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25 Jul 2011 23:09

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Politics: A little perspective on this whole deficit mess

  • This graph, courtesy of the New York Times, has been making the rounds today, and it’s worth examining. Note that health care reform, much-maligned by the right as deficit-killer, cost less than even the most inexpensive of George W. Bush’s policies (that policy being Medicare Part D). Note also that the Bush tax cuts alone added more to the deficit than all of President Obama’s new policies combined — and that’s including projected spending over the course of a theoretical second term.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Feb 2011 10:11

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Biz, U.S.: Bailouts: Remember TARP? It’s almost entirely recouped, kids.

  • $700B the amount the U.S. spent on the Troubled Asset Relief Program back in 2008
  • $341B the amount it looked like taxpayers were going to lose on the bailout deal back in mid-2009
  • $25B the amount it looks like we’ll lose on TARP; this is because we gave the money to banks source
  • » Not all is rosy in Bailoutville: One of the biggest issues we still face are the dual sinkholes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have reportedly cost taxpayers $150 billion and we like to think of as dual sinkholes. And some legislators feel that the effect has set us up for having to bail out unsuccessful companies in the future.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 23:01

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Politics, U.S.: TARP: Not as expensive as we’d thought it was

  • $109
    billlion     estimated losses of the TARP program, as of last March, according to CBO
  • $66 billion that same estimate, revised five months later by CBO
  • $25 billion the most recent estimate of TARP’s losses, as of today  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2010 00:10

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Biz, U.S.: TARP’s final cost could be way less than first advertised

  • $700 billion the amount TARP cost taxpayers when it first happened two years ago
  • $50
    billion     the most TARP will cost taxpayers when all is said and done source
  • » Says who?: The White House’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, suggested that the final bill for TARP could be 7 percent of the original cost – or less, depending on how the markets go. But don’t expect anyone to gloat about this. TARP is political poison.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

30 Sep 2010 11:04

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Biz: Bailout bonanza: AIG brokers a payback deal with the U.S.

  • 92.1%taxpayers’ upcoming stake in AIG
  • what The U.S. government will receive $62 billion in common shares of AIG stock to replace the $49 billion in preferred shares it currently has floating around.
  • why Because, over time, the government will be able to sell these shares and hopefully make back some of the billions it paid AIG during bailout-o-rama. source
  • » But wait, there’s more: AIG also plans to pay back $20 billion that it received from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York credit facility. An end result of all of this is that taxpayers will see an instant paper profit of $10 billion along with the long-term profits from the sale. Who wants to say “screw all those future generations” and grab a piece?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Sep 2010 18:38

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U.S.: People don’t like it when you prevent a second depression

  • TARP is probably the most effective large-scale government program that the public has vehemently decided was a bad idea.
  • Douglas Elliot of the Brookings Institute • Lamenting the public and political hatred for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (58% say it was unneeded). Economists estimate that without the bailout, GDP would have fallen 11% in the last two years, resulting in “a 1930’s-like depression.”  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2010 10:18

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Biz, U.S.: Timothy Geithner: We had to save AIG to save the economy

  • We acted because the consequences of AIG failing at that time, in those circumstances, would have been catastrophic for our economy and for American families and businesses.
  • Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner • In remarks prepared before a meeting in front of a House committee today. The AIG bailout, and the TARP program, have been the subject of a watchdog probe. Today’s hearing, which also features Geithner’s predecessor Henry Paulson, was called after documents from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (led by Geithner when Paulson was Treasury secretary) suggested that information was withheld from the public on the AIG bailout. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 Jan 2010 09:22

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Biz: Bank of America lost the TARP, posted huge losses. Coincidence?

  • $2.2B in losses this year, despite a strong upswing at formerly faltering Merrill Lynch
  • $4B the amount Bank of America spent on killing off those pesky bailout funds
  • $5.6B the amount Bank of America lost at its global credit cards division; oof source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jan 2010 10:31

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Biz: Citigroup took a big loss to scare off the TARP monster

  • $7.6 billion to be rid of federal pressures source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jan 2010 10:39

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Biz, U.S.: Obama’s bank plan: Lots of money for the U.S., with perks!

  • $90 billion in bank taxes over the next ten years source
  • So what happens if the banks overpay the bailouts? Simple. The money goes back to the U.S. to help strengthen the financial position that was screwed up by the bailout crisis. Did someone say “win-win” situation, kids? The banks don’t think so, by the way, and angrily responded to the new charges like petulant children who didn’t get a Nintendo 64 for Christmas.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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