CNN notes that the Treasury Department has spent the first $ 350 billion in TARP funds in just 77 days:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — President Bush has grudgingly allowed General Motors and Chrysler to drive away with the last few billion bucks in Treasury’s TARP till, which boasted $350 billion a mere 77 days ago.
How did it all slip away so fast?
Well, let’s look at where it went:
* sent checks totaling $168 billion in varying amounts to 116 banks;
* committed another $82 billion to capitalize more banks;
* bought $40 billion in preferred shares of American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500) so the troubled insurer could pay off an earlier loan from the Federal Reserve;
* committed $20 billion to back any losses that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might incur in a new program to lend money to owners of securities backed by credit card debt, student loans, auto loans and small business loans;
* committed to invest $20 billion in Citigroup on top of $25 billion the bank had already received;
* committed $5 billion as a loan loss backstop to Citigroup;
* agreed to loan $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler to get them through the next few months.
That averages out to about $ 4.5 billion out the door every day for 77 days.
And now they want more money ?
We’re not that stupid are we ?
The longer they hold the TARP money the less it buys in Euros. And they don’t want to release the big bucks and watch spending take off with runaway inflation or come back pregnant with deflation. LOL
Serious folks. I remember Robert Heinlein having written something about when the auto industry becomes subsudized by the government.
At that time of the novel it appeared that the industry didn’t give a hoot about what was left off or out of a car (engine and drivetrain) because they would be towed off the assembly to the government’s mandated recycling cursher.