Our Advertisers Represent Some Of The Most Unique Products & Services On Earth!

 
rense.com
 
Real Cost Of The 'BAILOUT'
Is $14 Trillion And Counting 

From Gene Messick
1-1-10
 
It wasn't going to be just a $700 Billion Fix-it-all patch at the end of 2008 which Bush&Buckshot handed over to the Wall $treet Criminals who caused the Global Meltdown.
 
Nope, that was just the trial run.  These Wall $treet MasterCons had much bigger plans in the works once they learned how to run their scams off US Taxpayers.
 
Now a year later, the total is up to $14.4 TRILLION, going to the same Wall $treet Criminals, plus still more to their Insurance buddies in the Healthcare Mafia.
 
Not one single Corporate Fascist who caused the Greatest Bank Heist in history has gone to jail, tho everyone knows who they are.
 
Question is:  why do YOU do business with any of these criminals?  For 2010, take your money out of Big Banks and move your accounts to member-owned Credit Unions, including your new, one (1) lower-cost credit card (that you will pay off each month).
 
To wrap up this Wall $treet RipOff, below is where your  $14.4 TRILLION has gone.
 
Who's going to pay for this?  Do you have to ask?
 
 
The Real Size of the Bail-Out
 
A guide to the abbreviations, acronyms, and obscure programs that make up the $14.4 TRILLION federal Bailout of Wall $treet
 
(Mother Jones magazine, Dec. 21) -- The price tag for the Wall Street Bailout is often put at $700 billion -- the size of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). But TARP is just the best known program in an array of more than 30 overseen by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve that have paid out or put aside money to bail out financial firms and inject money into (free) markets. (Free is the operational word.) Below is a guide to many pieces of the puzzle:
.
Treasury Department bail-out programs
 
Money Market Mutual Fund: In September 2008, the Treasury announced that it would insure the holdings of publicly offered money market mutual funds. According to the "special inspector general" for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), these guarantees could have potentially cost the federal government more than $3 trillion.
 
Public-Private Investment Fund: This joint Treasury-Federal Reserve program bought toxic assets from banks and brokerages -- as much as $5 billion of assets per firm. According to the TARP special inspector general, the government's potential exposure from this fund is between $500 million and $1 trillion.
 
TARP: As part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury has made loans to or investments more than 750 banks and financial institutions. $650 billion has been paid out (not including HAMP; see below). As of December 21, 2009, $117.5 billion of that has been re-paid.
 
Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) stock purchase: The Treasury has bought $200 million in preferred stock from Fannie Mae and another $200 million from Freddie Mac to show that they "will remain viable entities critical to the functioning of the housing and mortgage markets."
 
GSE mortgage-backed securities purchase: Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the Treasury may buy mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the TARP special inspector general, these purchases could cost as much as $314 billion.
 
Citigroup asset guarantee: In this joint Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC program, the government agreed to cover potential losses to a Citigroup asset pool worth $301 billion.
 
T-bill auctions to fund the Fed: In November 2008, the Treasury announced that it would borrow $260 billion to fund the Supplementary Financing Program, whose proceeds were deposited with the Federal Reserve.
 
TARP overpayment: This June, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal government would lose $159 billion from its TARP loans and investments due to changes in their market value. (So far, Treasury has earned $14.4 billion in dividends from TARP.)
 
Bank of America asset guarantee: In this joint Treasury-Federal Reserve-FDIC program, the government agreed to cover potential losses to a Bank of America asset pool worth $118 billion. Bank of America has withdrawn from the program and has paid the government $425 million in compensation.
 
Potential international fund liabilities: In April, the United States committed up to $100 billion to fund the International Monetary Fund's lending and ensure that it "has adequate resources to play its central role in resolving and preventing the spread of international economic and financial crises."
 
The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) offers financial incentives to lenders to modify home loans. $75 billion in federal funds has been committed; $50 billion of that comes from TARP, and is set aside to modify mortgages not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or other government-sponsored entities.
 
Treasury exchange stabilization fund: A temporary program to insure the holdings of publicly offered money market mutual funds.
 
GSE credit facility program: Additional credit made available to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Expires December 31, 2009.
 
 
Federal Reserve bail-out programs
 
Commercial Paper Funding Facility: With the support from the Treasury, the Fed established the CPFF in October 2008 to increase the availability of short-term debt (commercial paper) funding. Up to $1.8 trillion was earmarked for the program.
 
Mortgage-backed securities purchase: In 2009, the Fed earmarked up to $1.25 trillion to buy investments based on home loans.
 
Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility: TALF provides financing to investors who are buying asset-backed securities. In February 2009, the Fed and Treasury announced an expansion of the program to generate up to $1 trillion in new lending.
 
Foreign Central Bank Currency Liquidity Swaps: The Fed has provided $755 billion for currency liquidity swaps with foreign central banks.
 
Money Market Investor Funding Facility: The MMIF was established in October 2008 to provide loans for investors buying certificates of deposit and commercial paper. According to the TARP special inspector general, $600 billion was allocated for the program.
 
Treasury Purchase Program: In March 2009, the Fed was authorized to purchase up to $300 billion of Treasury securities.
 
GSE Program: In March 2009, the Fed increased its purchases of debt from government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac) from $100 billion to $200 billion.
 
Primary Dealer Credit Facility: The PDCF provides overnight loans to primary dealers (financial firms that can engage in direct transactions with the federal government). The Fed allocated $147.7 billion for it in 2009.
 
The Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) Money Market Mutual Fund (MMMF) Liquidity Facility provides loans to financial institutions purchasing commercial paper from money market mutual funds. According to the TARP special inspector general, the Fed allocated $145.9 billion in 2009.
 
JPMorgan Chase/Lehman Brothers: In September 2008, the Fed gave JPMorgan Chase $148 billion in help the near-bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
 
Open Market Operations: In September 2008, the Fed injected $125 billion into the market by purchasing securities and re-purchase agreements (or repos), in which primary dealers borrow cash from the Fed.
 
Tri-Party Repurchase Agreements: The Fed provided $124.6 billion for this type of repo in 2009.
 
Primary Credit: The Fed provided $112 billion to offer loans at a discounted rate to eligible institutions in 2009.
 
Temporary Reserves: Between August and September 2007, the Fed made $93 billion of temporary reserves available for loans to financial firms.
 
Single-Tranche Repurchase Agreements: In 2009, the Fed offered a total of $80 billion for short-term loans to holders of mortgage-backed securities.
 
Term Auction Facility: Under TAF, the Fed auctions short-term loans to financial institutions. The amount of loans offered has varied widely; between December 2009 and January 2010, $75 billion in loans will be available.
 
AIG preferred stock interests, credit, and loan: The Fed provided $53 billion to the struggling AIG in various forms between 2008 and 2009.
 
AIG Securities Lending Facility: In October 2008, the Fed authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to borrow up to $37.8 billion in securities from AIG.
 
Maiden Lane II and III (AIG): In 2008, the Fed authorized its New York branch to form three limited liability companies: Maiden Lane, Maiden Lane II, and Maiden Lane III. It provided $52.5 billion to Maiden Lane II and III to assist AIG.
 
Maiden Lane I (Bear Stearns): The Fed provided $29.8 billion to Maiden Lane I to acquire Bear Stearns' assets and facilitate its merger with JPMorgan Chase.
 
TSLF: The Term Securities Lending Facility offers Treasury collateral to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York so it can auction weekly loans to financial institutions. $25 billion in loans will be available between November 2009 and January 2010.
 
TOP: The TSLF Options Program allowed primary dealers to get TSLF loans in exchange for collateral. At the time of the program's termination in June 2009, $50 billion loans had been offered.
 
Expansion of system open market account securities lending: In July 2009, the Fed increased its limit for loans of securities to brokers from $3 billion to $5 billion, for a total of $36 billion in new lending.
 
JPMC/Bear Stearns Loan: The Fed provided a $12.9 billion bridge loan to JPMorgan Chase during its acquisition of Bear Stearns.
 
To get a sense of the relative sizes of the $14.4 TRILLION Bailout Components, see this chart:
 
http://motherjones.com/files/images/the-real-size-of-bailout.jpg
 
_____________________
 
NOT INCLUDED:  More MULTI-TRILLION DOLLAR costs:  for escalating the AfganWar;  for slowing catastrophic loses from Climate Change;  for slowing the murder and torture of Americans by the Healthcare Mafia;  for previous debt run up by Republican Presidents since Reagan;  AND for the day-to-day cost of running the Government, not including the INTEREST on all of this debt.
 
Welcome to the greatest Wall $treet Entitlement Program ever invented.
 
_____________________
 
Back when the World as we knew it was almost collapsed by greedy Wall $treet Bankers, when we were told this would cost us Taxpayers an unbelievable  $700,000 BILLION-- and might conceivably reach the then astronomical figure of ONE TRILLION DOLLARS -- I sat down to calculate how tall was a stack of a TRILLION One Dollar Bills.  You can read about it here:  <http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-can-you-visualize-a-tr-
by-Gene-Messick-090103-512.html>How can you visualize a trillion dollars?
 
A stack of 1,000,000,000,000 greenbacks, in round numbers, is 63,000 miles high.
 
That was for TARP in 2008.  The 2009 stack of $14.4 TRILLION Dollar Bills would reach to the Moon almost 4 times, or there-and-back twice.
 
That's just the Wall $treet RipOff for 2009, with no other outstanding bills included.
 
Here's the kicker:  This could be reduced significantly by a 50% tax on the net worth of the richest 10% of Americans, who lay claim to most of the wealth in America.
 
Click on <http://www.toomuchonline.org/inequality.html>Statistically Speaking from Too Much: An online weekly on excess and inequality.
 
They'd never miss it. And it's only fair:  the top 10% got what they have by stealing it from the rest of us ordinary folks.
 
"Take it back!" would be a great Resolution for the New Year!
 
 
© 2009  Gene Messick, wordsmith

 
 
 
Disclaimer
 
Donate to Rense.com
Support Free And Honest
Journalism At Rense.com
Subscribe To RenseRadio!
Enormous Online Archives,
MP3s, Streaming Audio Files, 
Highest Quality Live Programs


MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros