TARP Watchdog Says Program Has Worked... Sort Of

[ROYC75]

The bold part is what ticks me off .......

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/tarp-watchdog-says-program-worked-sort/


Joanna Ossinger and Rich Edson
FOXBusiness

* Celebrating TARP's First Anniversary

The Troubled Asset Relief Program has played a major role in preventing a collapse of the financial system, but the likelihood it will meet other goals -- such as returning profit to U.S. taxpayers and offering transparency in what’s being accomplished -- is less clear, according to a new report that also warns economic conditions remain extremely fragile.

TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky issued a statement Thursday morning to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that praised the overarching effectiveness of the $700 billion program passed last October, while the financial system appeared to be melting down.

Barofsky said in the statement that “there is little question that the dramatic steps taken by Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.] through TARP and related programs, in the face of what can only be described as panic conditions, played a significant role in bringing the system back from the brink of collapse.”

But there was plenty of criticism in the report for key parts of the program, with Barofsky rolling off a litany of areas where the program seems to have fallen short of goals -- or had no effect at all -- to this point.

“Maximiz[ing] overall returns to the taxpayer” is one of those areas.

“While several TARP recipients have repaid funds for what has widely been reported as a 17% profit, it is extremely unlikely that the taxpayer will see a full return on its TARP investment,” the statement said, taking an implicit shot at President Obama, who used the 17% figure in public remarks to argue that the program has been a success. More than $70 billion has been repaid to TARP by banks such as Goldman Sachs (GS: 180.08, -3.98, -2.16%), Morgan Stanley (MS: 30.26, -0.59, -1.91%) and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: 42.29, -1.47, -3.36%).

TARP programs such as the $50 billion mortgage-modification effort “will yield no direct return,” Barofsky noted, “and for others, including the extraordinary assistance programs to AIG (AIG: 42.31, -1.75, -3.97%) and the auto companies, full recovery is far from certain.”

The statement also said that Treasury’s “stated goal” of increasing lending hasn’t occurred, although it added, “it is likely that lending from TARP recipients would have decreased far more in the absence of TARP funding.”

The goals of preserving homeownership and promoting jobs and economic growth haven’t been met yet either, Barofsky’s statement said, adding that their success would “depend on programs that are just now reaching the implementation stage.”

Oversight of TARP is “mixed,” the report said, though it noted that it has been improving since the program was implemented in December.

“While we do not always agree with them, it is fair to say that, with each program, Treasury actively engages with us with an eye to making the program better from a compliance perspective and less susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse,” the statement said.

Still, Barofsky had some harsh words for Treasury with respect to certain parts of TARP.

“Treasury’s basic attitude toward transparency… remains a significant frustration,” the report said.

“Treasury’s default position should always be to require more disclosure rather than less and provide the investors in TARP -- the American taxpayers -- as much information about what it being done with their money as possible,” the report said.

Treasury’s “continued refusal to accept SIGTARP’s basic transparency recommendations on issues such as how TARP recipients are using TARP funds and the disclosure of trading of toxic assets of banks in the [Public-Private Investment Partnership] means that TARP largely remains a program in which taxpayers are not being told what most of the TARP recipients are doing with their money and will not be told the full details of how their money is being invested,” Barofsky said.

The SIGTARP report did have high praise for at least one entity: SIGTARP. For instance, the office’s investigations division “is quickly becoming a sophisticated white-collar law enforcement agency,” the report said, outlining a number of antifraud actions that have been taken under SIGTARP’s auspices.

The report said SIGTARP is nearly done with an audit “examining the selection of the first nine participants for funds” under the Capital Purchase Program -- “with emphasis on Bank of America (BAC: 16.64, -0.24, -1.42%), AIG bonuses, AIG counterparty payments and an update on SIGTARP’s use of funds survey.”

BofA has been under scrutiny from a variety of state and federal official of late over issues such as disclosure to shareholder about losses at Merrill Lynch before BofA took it over, while AIG made some controversial payments of bonuses and to counterparties even though the company basically imploded during the financial crisis.

The report suggested four recommendations dealing with transparency in TARP:

* Asking TARP recipients to detail their use of TARP funds
* Valuing the TARP portfolio
* Disclosing the identity of any companies that borrow money from the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility [TALF] that later need to surrender the asset-backed securities used as collateral because they’re unable to repay the loans
* Regularly disclosing the activity, holdings and valuations in the Public-Private Investment Facility

[ROYC75]

As the Greyhound slogan said , Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us . The Government says, "Give us your money and leave the spending to us" !

[TFG]

One of the biggest problems in the US is the US Federal Reserve. Of course, most W supporters neither understand what the Fed is nor have the intellectual capacity to understand what it does. As long as FIXED says its good, parrot the W supporters will.


Ben Bernanke is a dual citizen of the US and Israel. His first response to the "crisis" was to give, not loan, but give $29 billion in taxdollars to Bear Stearns so that Bear shareholders could get $10 per share instead of ZERO.

Bear was "chosen" so to speak. Nevermind Bernanke attends the same synagogue as many of the Bear bigs. When it was Morgan Stanley's turn, they weren't as "chosen" in the eyes of CHOOSE 'EM BEN BERNANKE.

And if you want to see what dual citizen Ben Bernanke has done with trillions of US taxdollars, PHUCK YOU - Fox News.


That we as a country cannot see what our master Israeli Fed Chair has done with our money is an outrage beyond anything except that same foreign lobby using the "media" to lie to the US public to mute outrage over it... and a treasonous US Prez selling out our troops to that lobby to get re-elected unlike his pappy....

[Hydrae]

One of the biggest problems in the US is the US Federal Reserve. Of course, most W supporters neither understand what the Fed is nor have the intellectual capacity to understand what it does. As long as FIXED says its good, parrot the W supporters will.


Ben Bernanke is a dual citizen of the US and Israel. His first response to the "crisis" was to give, not loan, but give $29 billion in taxdollars to Bear Stearns so that Bear shareholders could get $10 per share instead of ZERO.

Bear was "chosen" so to speak. Nevermind Bernanke attends the same synagogue as many of the Bear bigs. When it was Morgan Stanley's turn, they weren't as "chosen" in the eyes of CHOOSE 'EM BEN BERNANKE.

And if you want to see what dual citizen Ben Bernanke has done with trillions of US taxdollars, PHUCK YOU - Fox News.


That we as a country cannot see what our master Israeli Fed Chair has done with our money is an outrage beyond anything except that same foreign lobby using the "media" to lie to the US public to mute outrage over it... and a treasonous US Prez selling out our troops to that lobby to get re-elected unlike his pappy....

So single minded. :shake:

The problems with the Fed go back to it's inception, it not something specific to W or Bernanke. Try widening your views beyond the nearest person of jewish decent and you might realize there are other assholes out there of all colors and stripes.

[Direckshun]

TARP's been slightly more successful than expected as far as I'm concerned, but I honestly thought it was a big fucking disaster waiting to happen.

So far, it's just been a massively expensive clusterfuck, which is a step up I suppose.

[TFG]

So single minded. :shake:

The problems with the Fed go back to it's inception, it not something specific to W or Bernanke. Try widening your views beyond the nearest person of jewish decent and you might realize there are other assholes out there of all colors and stripes.



Yes, they do go back to inception. But the Fed has radically expanded its role and mission under Greenspan and CHOOSE 'EM BEN. Having a Fed Chair choose individual companies for bailouts is not the mission of the Fed. Rather, it is the expansion of the Fed since the Fed has been under the leadership of two rather rabid Zionists.

Not only has Bernanke given US taxdollars to private businesses, he has done so without any approval from Congress or a Prez signature. No Fed Chair before has ever done anything like giving Bear Stearns $29 billion for free.

What gave CHOOSE 'EM BEN the right to hand over $29 billion US taxdollars to Bear Stearns instead of allowing them to file for bankruptcy like every other business in the same condition?


Oh, yeah, I forgot, that question is anti-semitic. To think Bear shareholders were not "chosen" for $10 instead of zero is anti-semitic. To notice Bear bigs and Ben attend the same synagogue is anti-semitic. To ask CHOOSE 'EM BEN where he has handed out over 2 trillion US taxdollars is anti-semitic. To do anything other than parrot FIXED and OK whatever CHOOSE 'EM BEN does with US taxdollars is anti-semitic.


To oppose just handing over the US to Israeli rule is anti-semitic.


Watch it. Some patriots of the US are known to... appreciate freedom, accountability, and self-rule...

[TFG]

TARP's been slightly more successful than expected as far as I'm concerned, but I honestly thought it was a big ****ing disaster waiting to happen.

So far, it's just been a massively expensive cluster****, which is a step up I suppose.



You have no idea whether TARP has or has not been a success as long as CHOOSE 'EM BEN decides to prevent the US public from seeing where the money went.

Just blind parroting from FIXED is what you "think," because you don't think, you parrot. Your "understanding" of the Fed and TARP is 100% whatever your birdbrain just parroted from FIXED without seeing the actual numbers.

[Direckshun]

You have no idea whether TARP has or has not been a success as long as CHOOSE 'EM BEN decides to prevent the US public from seeing where the money went.

Just blind parroting from FIXED is what you "think," because you don't think, you parrot. Your "understanding" of the Fed and TARP is 100% whatever your birdbrain just parroted from FIXED without seeing the actual numbers.

Ah, okay. You're crazy. Got it.

[TFG]

Ah, okay. You're crazy. Got it.


When someone tells you the truth, you should thank him...

[Amnorix]

Ah, okay. You're crazy. Got it.

When someone tells you the truth, you should thank him...



Thank you Direckshun.

[SHTSPRAYER]

With a foreclosure filing occurring every 13 seconds, the United States is mired in a housing slump that is destroying billions of dollars in property values and threatening to choke off the economy's recovery from a stubborn recession.

The foreclosure crisis has moved beyond subprime mortgages into the prime mortgage market, said the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $700 billion bailout launched under the Bush administration.

"Rising unemployment, generally flat or even falling home prices, and impending mortgage rate resets threaten to cast millions more out of their homes," according to the report, which focused on the Treasury Department's efforts to curb foreclosures.

"The panel urges Treasury to reconsider the scope, scalability and permanence of the programs designed to minimize the economic impact of foreclosures, and consider whether new programs or program enhancements could be adopted," it said.

[BigRedChief]

Obama to announce help for small businesses
TARP likely to be extended into next year to help community banks
The Associated Press
updated 1:44 p.m. CT, Tues., Oct . 20, 2009

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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama wants smaller community banks to have greater access to the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund to assist small businesses that are still suffering from a prolonged credit crunch.

Obama on Wednesday plans to announce a package of initiatives designed to increase lending, including a request that Congress increase caps for existing Small Business Administration loans, the administration said.
The new effort comes as the administration is under pressure from liberals to shift the massive bailout fund's focus away from helping big financial institutions and toward homeowners and small businesses. But it also comes as Republicans press Obama to end the rescue program and use bank repayments to reduce the national debt.

Congressional and industry officials said there were few details about the new proposal, including how much of the bailout money would be used. But the American Bankers Association, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last month, recommended a $5 billion program for community banks that have not yet received assistance from the rescue fund. The program, as suggested by the association, would apply only to those banks with assets of less than $5 billion.

"Community banks feel like the government assistance efforts to date have left them on the sidelines," said Mark Tenhundfeld, a senior vice president at the bankers' association.

The rescue fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has about $320 billion still available to spend — a combination of unallocated money and more than $70 billion in repayments from banks that received bailouts since late last year. The TARP is set to expire at the end of December, but the administration could extend it until October 2010.

"Given that we are now well into October, it seems probable that there would need to be some extensions," Tenhundfeld said.

Sheila Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., generally defined community banks as those with less than $1 billion in assets. In testimony to Congress last week, she said those smaller banks have become especially vulnerable in the face of mounting losses and defaults in construction and commercial real estate loans.

Bair testified that she had been discussing TARP help for community banks with Treasury officials, a step welcomed by Democrats but criticized by Republicans.

"I just hate to hear us moving to that mode," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said. "I think we should end TARP at the end of the year."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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');if(window.print){window.print()}else{alert('To print his page press Ctrl-P on your keyboard \nor choose print from your browser or device after clicking OK');}}</SCRIPT>URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33400690/ns/business-small_business/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33400690/ns/business-small_business/)

[BigRedChief]

Obama to announce help for small businesses
TARP likely to be extended into next year to help community banks
The Associated Press
updated 1:44 p.m. CT, Tues., Oct . 20, 2009

<SCRIPT language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,(('false'.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633916610707030000');</SCRIPT>
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama wants smaller community banks to have greater access to the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund to assist small businesses that are still suffering from a prolonged credit crunch.

Obama on Wednesday plans to announce a package of initiatives designed to increase lending, including a request that Congress increase caps for existing Small Business Administration loans, the administration said.
The new effort comes as the administration is under pressure from liberals to shift the massive bailout fund's focus away from helping big financial institutions and toward homeowners and small businesses. But it also comes as Republicans press Obama to end the rescue program and use bank repayments to reduce the national debt.

Congressional and industry officials said there were few details about the new proposal, including how much of the bailout money would be used. But the American Bankers Association, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last month, recommended a $5 billion program for community banks that have not yet received assistance from the rescue fund. The program, as suggested by the association, would apply only to those banks with assets of less than $5 billion.

"Community banks feel like the government assistance efforts to date have left them on the sidelines," said Mark Tenhundfeld, a senior vice president at the bankers' association.

The rescue fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has about $320 billion still available to spend — a combination of unallocated money and more than $70 billion in repayments from banks that received bailouts since late last year. The TARP is set to expire at the end of December, but the administration could extend it until October 2010.

"Given that we are now well into October, it seems probable that there would need to be some extensions," Tenhundfeld said.

Sheila Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., generally defined community banks as those with less than $1 billion in assets. In testimony to Congress last week, she said those smaller banks have become especially vulnerable in the face of mounting losses and defaults in construction and commercial real estate loans.

Bair testified that she had been discussing TARP help for community banks with Treasury officials, a step welcomed by Democrats but criticized by Republicans.

"I just hate to hear us moving to that mode," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said. "I think we should end TARP at the end of the year."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
<SCRIPT>var url=location.href;var i=url.indexOf('/did/') + 1;if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('/print/1/') + 1;}if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('&print=1');}if(i>0){url = url.substring(0,i);document.write('URL: '+url+' (http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/'+url+')
');if(window.print){window.print()}else{alert('To print his page press Ctrl-P on your keyboard \nor choose print from your browser or device after clicking OK');}}</SCRIPT>URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33400690/ns/business-small_business/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33400690/ns/business-small_business/)
Screw this idea. We can pay down the deficit with $320 Billion? WTF are we waiting for? That $320 Billion is more than I figured we would ever see from that $700 billion TARP money. Talking about using it to spend on something? Thats insane.

[ROYC75]

More of you tax dollars going out to liberal ideas.

Tax and spend, it's the only way,
tax and spend ,It's the Liberal way.

[KC Dan]

Screw this idea. We can pay down the deficit with $320 Billion? WTF are we waiting for? That $320 Billion is more than I figured we would ever see from that $700 billion TARP money. Talking about using it to spend on something? Thats insane.This Congress and Administration will NEVER, EVER cut spending anywhere other than the Defense Dept. Period.

And, to top this all off, does anyone here ACTUALLY believe that the Congress or the Administration will cut Medicare by $400-500 Billion dollars to keep the health care bill deficit neutral?



why would anyone here be surprised that they would spend this money?

[ROYC75]

Why, YES WE CAN ! All the Liberals and Independent voters still still BELIEVE!

It's only " CHANGE " .

[Direckshun]

This Congress and Administration will NEVER, EVER cut spending anywhere other than the Defense Dept. Period.

This administration has increased defense spending.

[KC Dan]

This administration has increased defense spending.I didn't say that they wouldn't increase defense spending. I said that the only one that they would ever decrease would be Defense. And, they will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cut Medicare benefits...You know it to be true.

[BigRedChief]

I didn't say that they wouldn't increase defense spending. I said that the only one that they would ever decrease would be Defense. And, they will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cut Medicare benefits...You know it to be true.If they don't we are hosed. Entitlments are out of control.

[2bikemike]

I have never been in favor of all this Govt bail out stuff.

My Daughter works at a small or midsize bank. They were taken over by the FDIC last week. Apparantly they were heavily invested in Fannie and Freddy. When the Govt took over Fannie and Freddy the shares became worthless and the bank became under capitalized. Originally the owner was told they could get TARP money but had to wait until the program details were Ironed out. Well once the ironing was done they were basically told They were not to big to fail. So they lost 6 months time trying to line up investors and were never able to line up the investors. So they failed.

[BigRedChief]

NEW YORK - Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it plans to repay its $45 billion in government bailout funds in the next few days, a move that will help the troubled bank recruit a new CEO.
The bank said in a statement it would use available cash and raise $18.8 billion in capital to repay the money, which it received during the height of the credit crisis last year and after its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. earlier this year.


wonder how much interest accumulates on $45 billion in a year? How much profit we made?