Can't corporations live within their means?

Many complain about government borrowing and say that government should live within its means.  But few complain about corporate borrowing.  Shouldn't corporations live within their means?

From the semi-annual report of the AllianceBernstein Income Fund (Ticker AWF):

AT&T, 6.50%, due 2037
Ford Motor Co., 7.45%, due 2031
Citigroup, 8.50%, due 2019
Pacific Life Insurance Co., 9.25%, due 2039
Weyerhauser Co., 7.375%, due 2032

Borrowing does have its purposes, among other things having the capital for expansion or to smooth out cash flows.  But how much borrowing is too much?

For example, Citigroup as of June 2012 had a debt to equity ratio of 3.024, that is, it owed bondholders three times as much as the value of shareholders' stock.  See http://ycharts.com/companies/C/debt_equity_ratio.  On the better side, General Motors had a debt to equity ratio of 0.3555.  See http://ycharts.com/companies/GM/debt_equity_ratio.  On the worse side, Ferrellgas Partners has a debt to Equity Ratio of 25.36.  See http://ycharts.com/companies/FGP.

But why is Citigroup paying bondholders 8.50% when it pays savers 2% or less?  See "Taking a Look At Citigroup's Latest Fixed-Income Prospectus", Rajiv Tarigopula, Seeking Alpha, 2012-07-11.  Remember when savings and loans were required to pay 5% by law (which they used to justify not paying more)?  And this 2% is not being paid for demand deposits, but three-month notes.

It gets even a bit screwier.  Citigroup does offer a fixed-rate 15-year mortgage at 4.375 percent.  So, it is borrowing at 8.50% to finance mortgages returning 4.375%.  That doesn't sound like it's living within its means!  See "Who Are the Best Mortgage Lenders for Bad Credit", Beth Lytle, eHow Contributor, no date.

Just what are high-rate balances

One of AT&T Universal Card account holders pages has a little ad: "'I'm finished with high-rate balances.' Consolidate you high-rate credit cards into one monthly payment and save money on interest."

My rate is now 20.030% APY. Gosh, what kind of "high-rates" are they talking of?

I wonder if I'm better off taking money out of a mutual fund to pay this high-rate balance and paying myself instead. But then I'll have to figure out the capital gains and report it on next year's taxes. And the price per share could go up getting me fewer shares when I put the money back. Or the reverse. Decisions, decisions!

Quote of the day – regulators and risk

"Isn't there something you can do to order us not to take all of these risks?"
- Chuck Prince, CEO of Citigroup, at a dinner of financial executives with Hank Paulson, Treasury Secretary, June 2007, quoted in "All the Devils Are Here", p. 344, Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera

If CEOs are asking for government intervention when corporations are getting over their head, why are so many Republicans complaining about excessive government regulation?