bailout

Legacy, shmegacy! It would appear that the Republican National Committee found a spine in their Christmas stocking, and plans to give Bush a swift kick in the ass on his way out the door. They're going to attempt to pass a resolution accusing Bush and his congressional cronies of ushering in the current era of American socialism by approving the Wall Street bailout:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/30/rnc-pushes-unprecedented...

Not that I'm looking forward to Obama (by any means), but it sure will be nice to see the short bus come to pick up this loser on January 20. Just my humble opinion. Let the bashing begin...

The Big Money, Slate's new money/business site, is putting together some interesting content. I was particularly impressed with the scope and attention to detail they put into this interactive bailout map.

http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/making-bail/2008/12/19/bailout-watch

All those colorful additions really make those trillions of dollars we handed over seem worth it. And they've actually got somebody on hand to explain the numbers, just in case you have a desire to delve deeper.

If you're like me, you may have a tough time keeping track of all the finite details in the $700 Billion Financial Bailout Package, aka "It's A TARP!".

Don't wait to get called out at a fancy downtown dinner party again thinking Pamrapo Bancorp of Bayonne, NJ is only getting $10 million in the plan. "They're getting $11 million, duh, you idiot."

Luckily, everyone's favorite bastion of journalistic integrity and fancy fonts, the New York Times, assembled this helpful list of all the disbursements.

http://projects.nytimes.com/creditcrisis/recipients/table

So if you're interested check out all the exotic locations like Cleveland, OH, Newark, NJ and White Plains, NY where your tax dollars are going.

Hoping against hope for another bailout from Uncle Sugar, GM is considering dumping the SAAB, Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer brands in a last ditch effort to polish this bloated turd:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amIqBBYGRh5Q&refer=w...

As for truly changing their errant ways, CEO Rick Waggoner says Nuts to that! TRANSPARENCY-SHMARENCY! The company has filed a request with the FAA to block the public's access to the comings and goings of its private jet.

The hits just keep on coming. Now that talk of Bank of America needing a Citi-style bailout after the acquisition of Merrill has been acknowledged as more than just rumor, it appears that some life insurance companies are angling for some space at the trough:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AO7PH20081125

Breaking News: Citigroup will receive between a $10-$20 billion equity infusion.

From cnbc.com: "The Citigroup infusion plan is provisional and subject to change. The plan will probably be a multi-layered one, which means the government could backstop losses on Citigroup's troubled assets as well. In exchange, Citi may issue preferred stock to the government

Sources add that other actions are "not off the table", meaning that even the government plan of buying the troubled assets could be revived.

A strange phenomenon has been occurring centering around the clamor for banks applying to be included in the most recent TARP bailout. At first banks were sold off and discredited when they announced they would apply for the bailout, many investors assuming they were complete failures for needing to do so. Now it seems the only way to guarantee you are solvent is to be included in TARP protection. Kind of ironic, right?