All 50 Govs to take stimulus money

[Ravi]

so you come up with an alternate opinion on why the government will not allow TARP funds to be repaid.

And remember the simplest explanation is usually true.

It isn't true that the banks aren't allowed to repay TARP funds.

Five banks repay TARP, others in line (Dealscape)

oh the smaller less prominent banks mentioned in the op ed you mean?

Where are the big banks?

They are still using the money, according to the article. Where is it written that they can't return it besides in the overwrought imagination of some hysterical winger?

 

[Skull Pilot]

It isn't true that the banks aren't allowed to repay TARP funds.

Five banks repay TARP, others in line (Dealscape)

oh the smaller less prominent banks mentioned in the op ed you mean?

Where are the big banks?

They are still using the money, according to the article. Where is it written that they can't return it besides in the overwrought imagination of some hysterical winger?

actually I heard the dream weaver himself, the lord of hope and stimuli, allude to the fact that banks will be able to pay back TARP funds IF the government decides they can.

Obama told the executives that banks shouldn’t return the money until they have adequate capital, so as not to hinder their ability to lend money, according to Yingling.

That's political speak for "when the government decides you have enough capital"

Obama Tells Bankers to Show ‘Restraint’ as He Seeks Their Help - Bloomberg.com

Banks also must pass a government mandated "stress test," which will determine if the bank would remain sufficiently well-capitalized without the TARP money. Those tests are to be completed by the end of next month, the person said.

NewsDaily: Goldman to repay TARP pending test, U.S. blessing

So again, the government will determine who will repay TARP funds after some arbitrary stress test. Or in other words the government is retaining control of the banks because that was the plan all along.

 

[Ravi]

That's just silly. He's telling them they shouldn't return the money until they can stay afloat without it...not telling them they cannot. That's just common sense, which apparently the banks are short of lately. I'm kind of surprised to see you turn into a conspiracy theorist.

 

[Skull Pilot]

That's just silly. He's telling them they shouldn't return the money until they can stay afloat without it...not telling them they cannot. That's just common sense, which apparently the banks are short of lately. I'm kind of surprised to see you turn into a conspiracy theorist.

There were banks that were forced to take money in the form of stock purchases by the federal government that is no conspiracy.

U.S. to Buy Stakes in Nation's Largest Banks - WSJ.com

To kick off Tuesday's expected announcement, the government is set to buy preferred equity stakes in Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. -- including the soon-to-be acquired Merrill Lynch -- Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of New York Mellon and State Street Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Some of the big banks were unhappy about the government taking equity stakes, but acquiesced under pressure from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a meeting Monday.

That "pressure " was basically the government saying we' are buying stock in your banks whether you want it or not. Now tell me when the full weight of the federal government is brought to bear on private business, just what do you call it?

At Moment of Truth, U.S. Forced Big Bankers to Blink - WSJ.com

It was Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Treasury headquarters. Messrs. Paulson and Bernanke had called one of the most important gatherings of bankers in American history. For an hour, the nine executives drank coffee and water and listened to the two men paint a dire portrait of the U.S. economy and the unfolding financial crisis. As the meeting neared a close, each banker was handed a term sheet detailing how the government would take stakes valued at a combined $125 billion in their banks, and impose new restrictions on executive pay and dividend policies.

The participants, among the nation's best deal makers, were in a peculiar position. They weren't allowed to negotiate. Mr. Paulson requested that each of them sign. It was for their own good and the good of the country, he said, according to a person in the room.

So bank presidents are summoned to Washington, are told the government is buying interest in their banks in order exercise control over those banks. These execs are not allowed to negotiate but rather are told to sign on the dotted line.

If that's not government coercion, what is?

And now the government decided who can repay Tarp funds and believe me the conditions will be far more stringent than anyone can imagine.

But the question is, what about all this stock in banks the government now holds do you wonder why instead of merely loaning funds the government insisted on buying shares in the 9 largest banks in the country with Tarp money and did so in a fashion that did not allow the refusal of said stock purchase?

The answer is control and the government will not relinquish that control easily.



The answer is simple.