Does it all add up? Here is the latest on the TARP bailout. That is the one we just had to have no matter what or it would be the end of the world or worse. I don’t even remember which administration passed this (I think Bush) but it really doesn’t matter.

The latest plan to seed a public-private program to sop up banks’ toxic assets leaves the fund with only about $86 billion that has not yet been disbursed or pledged for specific uses. (Just a crazy idea but how about not spending that $86,000,000,000,000 and crediting it back to the deficit?)

Where did the money go?

• The Treasury will use $75 billion to $100 billion to seed its public-private plan to buy up to $500 billion worth of toxic assets with financing from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Federal Reserve.
  
• An unknown amount pledged to pump capital into banks. In the most recent report the Treasury said it had completed equity purchases totaling $198.6 billion.
  
• $50 billion pledged for mortgage foreclosure mitigation.
  
• $20 billion investment in Citigroup as part of a package in which the government agreed to share in losses on $301 billion of assets. In addition to the investment, the Treasury agreed to cover up to $5 billion in losses on the portfolio. The $20 billion is in addition to $25 billion disbursed in the initial round of bank capital injections. (So we have given Citigroup $50 billion and will share losses on $301 billion!)
  
• $20 billion investment in Bank of America as part of a package in which the government agreed to share in losses on $118 billion of assets. The $20 billion is in addition to $25 billion disbursed earlier as part of the Treasury’s bank capital program. ($45 billion and we share losses once again, this time on $118 billion.)
  
• $40 billion investment in troubled insurer American International Group made on November 25. In addition, the Treasury said on March 2 that it stood ready to provide up to $30 billion more.
  
• $24.78 billion has been disbursed to prop up the U.S. auto industry, according to the latest transactions report. On March 19, the Obama Administration pledged up to $5 billion to assist auto suppliers.
  
• $20 billion has been shifted to a special purpose vehicle, TALF LLC, to cover potential losses for a $200 billion Federal Reserve program to support credit card, auto, education and small business lending. This program is expected to be expanded to $1 trillion, requiring the Treasury to increase its contribution to $100 billion. (How much? I can’t see past the smoke and mirrors here.)
  Source Reuters
  

(For details on money already disbursed and recipients, see Who Got It as of March 20, 2009 pdf)

Today our friend, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, announced (this time not on TV) the administration’s newest toxic-asset repellent plan. It is another of several banking plans that have that have tried to deal directly with mortgage foreclosures.

Geithner has said that the country cannot afford to simply wait for banks to work off these bad assets over time.

No we can’t afford to wait so knowing the loans are bad, the banks have an obligation to write them off now and declare the loss. What they are doing now is hiding a loss we all know is there. Don’t wait for the tax payers to bail the banks and their shareholders out. Take your lumps! If you go out of business the tax payer will better off. Too big to fail? Horse pucky!

And exactly which banks are we talking about? How many banks? You can bet that Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America will right up there on the list. And how about the brokerage houses that switched themselfs to banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs?

Did you know?

Goldman was the second largest donor to the Barack Obama campaign and the fourth largest to the John McCain campaign in the 2008 presidential election.

I read it on the web so it must be true.

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on.

AIG will pay over $400 million in bonuses and retention pay this year and next. Much of this year’s went to the AIG Financial Products subsidiary in London which was one of the major players in derivatives and the collapse of the global economy.

AIG told the Treasury . . .

any steps that encourage specialists at AIG Financial Products to leave could open the US Government to further risk because of the hazards still posed by the $1.6 trillion portfolio of complex derivatives these employees are working to dispose.

Edward Liddy, CEO AIG

Not only do we have AIG paying bonuses after receiving cash and commitments for more than $170 billion from you and me, we have bonuses being paid to retain employees whose primary job right now is probably shredding documents.

Liddy is “gravely” concerned that AIG won’t be able to retain talented staff. Seeing as how the “talented staff” and the derivative trading brought AIG to the brink, I don’t think he needs to worry about retaining them. He should have fired them and dared them to sue. But then that would require initiative, actual leadership and a sense of justice. Not much of that around today in the financial world.

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on.