Pelosi: BushCo Barred Officials From Briefing Congress Pre-'08 Financial Crisis

By GottaLaff

So far, when it comes to legal repercussions for their thuggery, BushCo has skated. Worms like John Yoo, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Bush himself are free to write books and spew their toxic venom all over the Tee Vee Machine while America (and what's left of its Constitution) has suffered immensely.

There have been no consequences for holding and torturing hostages at Gitmo and elsewhere, for spying on Americans, for outing a CIA agent, etc., ad nauseam.

Will there be any for this?

Nearly two years after the Wall Street meltdown drove the U.S. economy to the brink of collapse, and forced the U.S. government to prop up major financial institutions with hundreds of billions of dollars, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now claims that the Bush Administration prohibited its own top officials who were handling the emerging crisis from briefing Congress until a complete financial collapse was only hours away.

In little-noticed statements to reporters over the last few weeks, Pelosi has alleged that the Bush administration knew well in advance of its intervention that the financial crisis would hit, and that Congress would need to authorize a historic and unpopular bailout - but that top officials, including then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, told her that they had been barred from briefing Congress about true extent of the crisis.

If accurate, the allegation could constitute a major indictment of the Bush administration, which may have worsened the crisis and resulting economic fallout by delaying the call for congressional action.

IMHO, with the economy still slogging through a sluggish recovery, the national state of mind could very well default to blame mode and demand a full investigation. One can only hope. And of course, that's only if this story gets media attention.

Will BushCo be excused because it's difficult to prove intent, or because there is no appetite to go after them?

Nor is it clear if the Administration's alleged decision not to brief Congress earlier was a calculated strategy to avoid spooking the already shaky financial markets thus hastening the crisis or, as Pelosi suggests, a political calculation in advance of the 2008 presidential elections, or a combination of the two.

There's much more here. TPM did a great job reporting this.

UPDATE: Bush and Paulson spokesperson fire back.

H/t: hapkidogal

TARP repayments averaging 8.5 percent profit for United States

Funny how we've gotten so deeply into Socialism that we're coming out the other end right smack dab in the middle of Capitalism.

The Treasury Department is booking an 8.5 percent profit on investments in bailed out banks, according to a new survey.

American Express and Goldman Sachs ranked among the top five most profitable investments for taxpayers, according to SNL Financial, a market research firm that released the survey.

(snip)

The Treasury Department said Friday the government had been repaid $181 billion from the program, and predicted that the bailout would be a net profit to taxpayers. The profits stem from early repayments, stock sales, dividends and warrants issued under the bailout.

Here are the five most profitable returns, according to SNL:

1. Centra Financial Holdings - 26.2 percent

2. First ULB Corp - 26 percent

3. American Express - 23.3 percent

4. Goldman Sachs - 20 percent

5. First Manitowoc Bancorp - 19.5 percent

VIDEO- Suze Orman: "It's not all the president's fault"

By GottaLaff



Suze Orman is unAmurkin! Doesn't she realize everything is Obama's fault?

“In my opinion, bankers,” Orman continued, “you are serving your own bottom lines and shame on you! And if you don’t get your act together, if you don’t start helping those that need loan modifications, if you don’t start helping those that need [small business] loans. . . if you don’t help those that really need you, then we’re going to have to do something about it.’”

Poor wittle bankies. They didn't do nothin'. Big Bad Suze, you leave them alone and start bashing the president before you give the Rushpublics the wrong impression.

Breaking: Administration looks to spin off program from TARP for small business

By GottaLaff

WaPo just sent me this e-mail alert:

The Obama administration is developing a major initiative to tackle the economic and political problem of unemployment by getting federal bailout funds into the hands of small businesses.

The proposal involves spinning off a new entity from the Troubled Assets Relief Program that could give banks access to the government money without restrictions, such as limits on executive pay, as long as they use it to make loans to small businesses. But officials are not yet certain whether carving the program out of the TARP would be the best way to lure banks to participate in small business lending, sources familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity because the plans were not final.

As an alternative, officials are prepared to ask Congress to modify the TARP itself, easing the pay limits and other restrictions that would be imposed on small business lenders taking the money, the sources said.

You can read the rest here.

Video- Fox graphic misreports TARP savings by $198 billion

Hmm, there might be a pattern here.

Earlier Tuesday, President Obama said that at least $200 billion had been saved from the TARP program, savings that he plans to use to help fund his new job creation initiatives.

A few minutes later, Fox took that $200 billion figure and cut it by $198 billion, telling their audience in an on-screen graphic that the TARP savings would be just $2 billion.

As Big Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit

Boy, this will throw a monkey wrench in the "Obama wants the government to run everything" meme. Or not.

Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation’s biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that many critics thought might never be seen again.

The profits, collected from eight of the biggest banks that have fully repaid their obligations to the government, come to about $4 billion, or the equivalent of about 15 percent annually, according to calculations compiled for The New York Times.

(snip)

But the mere hint of bailout profits for the nearly year-old Troubled Asset Relief Program has been received as a welcome surprise. It has also spurred hopes that the government could soon get out of the banking business.

VIDEOS: Jon Stewart shines bright light on where our TARP bailout money is going

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash-- Today's episode: Elizabeth Warren explains it all:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 1
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Warren gave us a brief history lesson where we went in boom and bust cycles, hitting a bust every 15 years or so until the Great Depression. After the New Deal, we went 50 years without a major bust, until Ronald Reagan put his stamp on regulation, and then we had the savings & loan crisis. She noted that we have been "pulling the threads of regulatory fabric."

It takes someone really smart to sift through the economic insanity that is the banks and insurance companies such as AIG, and oversee the TARP funding for these companies. Fortunately, we have such a person in Elizabeth Warren -- professor of law at Harvard, where she teaches contract law, bankruptcy, and commercial law - in her role as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel.

But despite the rosiness, Warren is fighting a losing battle, trying to get the word out about what is going on, and what we should watch for to make sure the money is being spent well.

Please read the whole post here. Warren was terrific as always. She has been on the Rachel Maddow Show, too, and never fails to enlighten us in a really charming, economy-wizard-geeky kind of way.

Sidebar: BuzzFlash's Mark Karlin was just a guest on the Nancy Skinner radio show.

FOX (yes, Fox) Bags Trove Of Secret TARP Emails

By GottaLaff

This is getting good. Too bad it was Faux News that got the scoop. Via TPM:

...Fox Business News has obtained a much-redacted 10,096 pages of Treasury Department documents on the bank bailout. Scrubbed of "proprietary" information and what would presumably be their most explosive revelations, the communiques exchanged between the Bush Administration and executives at Citigroup and AIG read something like "Dumb and Dumber and I Know It Seems Impossible But Even Dumber Than That." The first role would be played by the TARP overseer and cheerleader for the Italian automobile industry Neel Kashkari, whose aides nervously emailed one another as they watched him testify before the House Financial Services Committee on what exactly he was doing with their money.

Nason: How's it going?

Zuccarelli: Bad. Serious questions, too, not "chump" type questions. They're going to start to break Neel down soon, I'm getting worried he's going to start snapping.

Nason: This AIG stuff is tough to watch.

Zuccarelli: They killed him on exec comp. He didn't know answer. [...]

But maybe because their $45 billion bailout was so puny compared to AIG's, Citigroup seemed most oblivious of all:

Though the details of what specifically held up an agreement with Citigroup at the end of last year are muddy, it's clear from the documents it dealt with compensation. What's also clear is that government officials were amazed that, even at the eleventh hour, Citi officials still didn't seem to understand that they would have to make concessions.

"Unbelievable," wrote Stephen Albrecht, the counselor to the general counsel at Treasury, summing up the situation.

There is more here. I felt too guilty to steal the entire post.

President Obama lays down the law on recovery funds

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

ObamAdministration to Curb Executive Pay for Bailout Recipients

By GottaLaff

At the risk of repeating myself... Change:

The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money, according to people familiar with the plan.

President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will announce the executive compensation plan on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Executives would also be prohibited from receiving any bonuses above their base pay, except for normal stock dividends.

The new rules would be far tougher than any restrictions imposed during the Bush administration, and they could force executives in the months ahead to accept deep reductions in their current pay. The proposed cap comes amid rising public fury about huge pay packages for executives at financial companies being propped up by federal tax dollars. [...]

Crucial details remained unclear on Tuesday night, including whether the restrictions would apply to all companies that receive money under the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, or whether they would apply only to the “exceptional” companies that were being rescued from collapse.

Obama gets first major win with TARP

By GottaLaff

Everyone loves a winner, and the Winner-elect won some Senators over:

Not yet in the White House but working the phones as if he were, Barack Obama won a crucial Senate vote Thursday clearing the release of $350 billion more in bailout funds from the Treasury Department’s controversial financial rescue program.

For the incoming president, the 52-42 roll call represented his first major test of strength, and he threw himself into the fight this week, reaching out to both sides of aisle and making close to a dozen phone calls, many targeted at Democratic freshmen who won with his help in November. [...]

Republicans were more skeptical, but in an open appeal for their votes, the Obama camp released a new letter prior to the vote saying it had “no intention of using any funds to implement an industrial policy.”

The letter, signed by Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers, also pledged that $50 billion to $100 billion of the new funds would be committed to a “sweeping effort to address the foreclosure crisis” — a major issue for both parties.

The latest draft also suggests that high-paid CEOs at companies helped by Treasury will be required to take a portion of their salary in restricted stock or some similar form “that cannot be liquidated or sold until the government has been repaid.”

Obama Issues First Veto Threat

By GottaLaff

Democrats claimed they would stand up to P.E. Obama (as opposed to what they did for the past 8 years with the Moron in Chief). Turnabout's fair play:

President-elect Barack Obama made his first veto threat Tuesday in a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats. Obama told his former colleagues that if Congress passes a resolution blocking release of the second half of the financial bailout funds he will veto it, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman after leaving the caucus meeting. [...]

Obama spoke for about fifteen minutes and then spent much of the rest of the hour-plus meeting answering questions. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) spoke on behalf of increased spending on energy independence and alternative energy as a way to stimulate the economy. "You add up all the benefits of it and it's really quite extraordinary," said Kerry. [...]

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a top Obama surrogate during the campaign, said that Obama repeatedly stressed the urgency of getting access to the TARP funds quickly and spent the bulk of the meeting on the subject. "The single message that was most consistent was that time is of the essence. There's a sense of urgency," she said.

Because of that urgency, McCaskill said, Obama told the group that he understood that the Senate may not have the time it needs to develop a proper oversight package. He asked his former colleagues not to let that slow down the release of the funds, promising to conduct the oversight they expect and operate with transparency.

GOP senators said Tuesday they were not enthusiastic about releasing the second half of the funds. [...]

If Congress releases the funds without a new oversight bill, it will rely on a gentleman's agreement of sort between congressional Democrats and Obama. The framework for such an agreement was debated in a House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday. "This is a 'trust but verify' bill," said committee chairman Barny Frank (D-Mass.).

McCaskill, though, said she thinks Obama may get enough votes out of the Senate to approve the funds, obviating a veto. "We didn't take a caucus vote, but he needs fifty votes out of the caucus. I'd be shocked if he didn't get it," she said.

H/t: Ellen

Moral TARPitude

By GottaLaff

Moral TARPitude: BushCo must have a bazillion dollars now. Right now, or... or.... what? And for whom? And why? And how? Details, damnit, we want details:

Under the emergency rescue legislation approved by Congress in October, the administration must inform lawmakers that it wants access to the second installment of $350 billion. Unless Congress passes a resolution rejecting the request within 15 days, the Treasury can begin to tap the funds. If Congress turns down the request, the president could veto the resolution and then the Treasury could proceed. The money would be blocked only if Congress overrides the veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers. [...]

Both Bush and Obama officials say gaining access to the balance of the rescue funds is crucial to turning the economy around. Without the money, it would be nearly impossible to offer significant help for homeowners facing foreclosure, stabilize the financial system or jump-start the credit markets so more consumers and companies can get loans.

So, on the TARP-o-meter scale of 1-350 billion, BushCo scores a.... 0. Next:

Even as foreclosures continue by the hundreds, more than $100 million set aside by the state to help families keep their homes is going untapped. The state programs are so narrow and carry so many restrictions that getting approval is nearly impossible.

Since July 1, a program to help homeowners make payments on their mortgages has helped one borrower so far, with just five approvals pending. That, despite 382 applications for the program — the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, or EMAP.

The centerpiece program, CTFAMLIES, has fared better, with 65 loan refinancings closed, totaling $13.5 million, among 309 applications. Another seven refinancings are approved, and awaiting a closing date.

In yet another program — the Homeowner Equity Recovery Program, or HERO — the state planned to buy mortgages from lenders, who would take a loss, and negotiate to set more affordable interest rates. HERO has yet to help a single homeowner, and just one loan is expected to close later this month, state records show.

To quote Commenter Chris from an e-mail she sent me:

So....who exactly is being helped by the TARP funds that BushCo must have immediately? Not the state programs or the individual homeowners. Could it possibly be that BushCo thinks it hasn't stolen enough taxpayer money & is going for the final reaming on us all??

In a word: yes. After all, he needs some pocket change to pay for all those attorney fees that are coming up.

H/t: Chris