Treasury Sends Banks Another $15 Billion

Government Has Doled Out $187.5B In Bailout Funds To Bolster Financial System So Far

(AP)  The government said Monday it had supplied another $15 billion to seven U.S. banks in the latest round of payments from the $700 billion rescue fund.

The Treasury Department said the biggest payment in the new round totaled $7.58 billion to Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

The latest payments bring the amount the government has committed to buying bank stock as a way of bolstering the financial system to $187.5 billion. Treasury said it has provided support to financial institutions in 41 states and Puerto Rico.

Besides PNC, Treasury provided $3.41 billion to Fifth Third Bancorp of Cincinnati and $1.35 billion to Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. The announcement Monday covered payments that were made on Dec. 31.

Under the law that established the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury has two business days after giving final approval to release the money to make that action public. In many cases, the individual financial institutions publicize that they have received approval for financial rescue support before the official Treasury announcement.

The government is buying stock in banks in an effort to bolster the companies' balance sheets and spur them to step up lending to fight the worst financial crisis to hit the country since the 1930s.

But critics contend that many banks are not using the government funds for the purposes that Congress intended. An Associated Press survey last month of 21 banks that had received at least $1 billion each in government support found that none of them would provide specific answers to how the money was used.

Besides purchasing bank stock, the government also has tapped the bailout fund to supply support to insurance giant American International Group, and last week released money to General Motors Corp. and its financing arm GMAC LLC.

Treasury also said it had provided an additional $20 billion to Citigroup Inc. on Dec. 31 under a program it has dubbed its "targeted investment program" to provide support for the banking giant. It already had provided Citigroup an initial $25 billion.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said last month when the Bush administration announced it would provide emergency loans to GM and Chrysler LLC that it had committed the first half of the $700 billion rescue program and Congress would need to authorize use of the final $350 billion.

That money cannot be tapped until the administration sends a report to Congress explaining how it plans to use the final $350 billion.

Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said Monday the administration was continuing to have conversations with the economic team of President-elect Barack Obama and with leaders in Congress about release of the final $350 billion.

She said no decision had been made on when the report requesting the next $350 billion would be sent to Congress. Many lawmakers believe that request will be delayed until after Obama takes office on Jan. 20.

[heartlandjim]

If we just give the banks a few more trillion everything will be O.K.!!!!!

[incog-nito]

Cool! Time for another luxury resort retreat, and multimillion dollar bonuses all around!

[wwudiver]

Mr. Banker,

Stop- just stop. Even you know,deep in your heart, when you look into your children''s eyes, that selling them into debt bondage is wrong. You know that morality based on legality destroys society. The great society needs your help, it is not late. Even though you can do it, despite the fact that you will get away with stealing the wealth of our resources and labor, it is still wrong. Please stop...we are begging you to allow our children a future...

Just stop- please.

[alphaa10000]

The Bush-Paulson $700 billion bailout is the largest robbery, ever, in broad daylight.

Bush and Paulson, flanked by Bernanke, presented the $700 billion demand to congress as an ultimatum-- "This is our Wall Street rescue plan-- sign the papers, or the banking system and possibly the whole country goes under..."

The Bush-Paulson plan has no requirement on how the money is to be spent. There is not even a simple requirement to make loans to the millions of American mortgage holders soon to be under foreclosure. As far as anyone knows at the moment, the banks are simply sitting on the money.

The bailout is a con-man''s dream come true-- a literal blank check to various Wall Street titans, many of whom did not bother even to attend hearings on the crisis. Many of those who did attend arrived in private corporate jets.

So, guess whose bailout plea was placed under the microscope by the media? Not the bankers'' bailout, but Detroit''s own plea for help. However, the Detroit $14 billion is only one-fiftieth the size of the Wall Street $700 billion.

The GOP loudly protested the aid to Betroit, but said nothing about the huge freighttrain load of money for Wall Street.

Calling to mind the biblical phrase, to "strain at a gnat, but swallow a camel".

[pirmin3]

That''ll keep those campaign contributions rolling in and the bonuses handed out. Business as usual - tax payers take it in the shorts to bail out the rich.

[wardoglrs]

Welcome to the Neo Con Casino while you work hard, So do we spending it.

Show the law where it says in the constitution that we are to obey the Neo Con IRS Jewish organization also called the Federal Reserve.

[missingamerica]

WHEN WILL THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT RUN OUT OF THE PAPER THEY ARE PRINTING MONEY ON???

Posted by KristianInAL at 03:58 AM : Jan 06, 2009

lollll...about as long as the cotton and flax growers are willing to accept dollar bills in payment...

[perk235]

Yet another transfer of money to the privileged that is cloaked in secrecy.

It'' been happening rather fast and furious for the past few years and look at where it has gotten us.

[longtree-2009]

bush, treasury, paulson should be charged with some kind of treason. using taxpayer monies to bail out banks and not holding banks accountable for how it is spent, not holding banks accountable for where the money has gone. bail out taxpayer money should be monitored and every dime should be accounted for by those, banks or anyone else, receiving taxpayer money. from all indications obama will continue the practice of free money. the nation might just keep on getting hosed by obama.

[irmcvet971]

Posted by longtree at 07:13 AM : Jan 06, 2009

You fascist no more know what Obama is going to do than a man in the moon. You attack him for one reason and one reason alone... to cover up the COMPLETE AND ABSOLUTE FAILURE of "Trickle Down". IF we do not turn to fascism, IF we keep the New Deal Regulations on Banks then the "free money" is NOT needed. Obama and the Democrats had NOTHING to do with THAT insanity as they had NOTHING to do with the INSANITY of Trickle Down. Let the man alone and lets see if he can, yet again, repair the enormous damage done by the Republican Party!!

[glenn_lewis]

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER $15 BILLION FOR THE GAMBLERS OF HIGH FINANCE.

[endrepubs]

Don''''t ever let a Republican fool you again with the lie that THEY are the party of fiscal responsibility. They have been anything but fiscally responsible with the American taxpayer money these last 8 years. The same also applies for Bush 41 and Reagan. All 3 have had disastrously bloated spending agendas. Clinton has been the only President in 30 years to actually shrink the rate of growth of the national debt while in office, and at the same time leaving large budget surpluses. GW Bush has spent money like the drunken sailor idiot that he is.

[ballpen1]

"Quick, out the back! The new guys are at the front, and they ain''t pleased. I start the car, you grab the rest of the loot and off we are to Disneyland!"

- Overheared near the Oval Office

[aztecdakota]

15 billion to the banks? Just 1 BILLION is needed to bail out the State of Florida, their government says. Can the bailout money people afford a single 1 billion dollars to bail out a whole state? Yea right.

[greeneyes222]

And where were the big Senate hearings where our dedicated public servants grilled these bankers about their plans for the money? Like they did with the auto makers?

What! No dog and pony show?

Posted by jbrown88881

-----------------------------
Amen to that. Pelosi and Reid are too busy playing politics to take care of business. What the little Obama fans fail to grasp is, if Bush is doing this it''s because they didn''t use their considerable authority to stop him. Congress is every bit as guilty. A pox on them all.

[omega40]

At least they were generous enough to tell us who is getting the money and how much this time around. Perhaps with the next dispersal they may even put in a request that some of those funds actually be loaned to consumers.

[brannigon]

What????? DUH! We don''t even know what they did with our money that the government has already given them! They''re certainly not giving any loans to anyone! What are they doing with the money they already have? The government keeps throwing money around while they''re trillions in debt and trying to get out? God help us all!

[brannigon]

Hey, government Dodos'', since you''re giving money out like candy, why not throw some of the those billions to someone who really needs it; the American public? Without us, your crooked businesses aren''t going to survive!

[quickly101]

The problem with this bailout, Congress did not require any accountability on how the banks would use the money to provide credit to individuals. What a bunch of dummies there are, acting as lawmakers.

[pollroller1]

Now everybody just calm down. These bank CEOs need this money so that they can get their big bonuses. It will all trickle down in due time.

[paidgopshill]

Seriously. There WERE comments there. I was in the middle of posting there.

Then suddenly the ENTIRE BOARD DISAPPEARED. It hasn''t come back.


Posted by txgrouch2008


That doesn''t surprise me. World net daily has reported that CBS is running it''s servers out of UAW headquarters and participants of the unions jobs bank are serving as moderators.

[twomtns]

aside from this money being needed for bonuses
they also have to pay for their sponsership of
the collage football bowls

[omega40]

No they are just roping in this wild wild west of message boards finally. They will attempt this for awhile and then realize its less of a headache to shut them all down.

Posted by lady_organs

Kind of like Yahoo? You remind me very much of a certain preacher from those boards...

[omega40]

First_churc
h_of_bush?

Posted by lady_organs

LOL! Yep, right on.

[hologram5]

when does it end? We will never recover our tax dollars now...

[antoniof123]

Wow, Pauly said helping the home owner would send a bad message. So instead he sent another message to his rich friends hey do what ever you want we reactionary wing nuts will bail you out even if you did cause this mess.

It is time 14 days until the nightmare ends and we can start to fix and heal the problems of the last 8 years.

[omega40]

Ah yes, those were the days. :)

Posted by lady_organs

Yes they were :), I miss the Sunday readings from "the first book of Cheney". I was surprised that no one from Curtains or Soars had showed up here. I know timbuk was running a board but it seemed to be a little slow.

[walt1944-2009]

It has been announced that the "Old Baldy" Paulson has sent another $15 BILLION to banks to help "rescue" their upper management!

Paulson''s action was influenced when he learned that Toyota will shut down for 2 weeks because of dismal car sales. It is hoped by Paulson and other neocons everywhere that this recent "contribution" of taxpayer money will influence the upper management of the banking industry to go out and buy Toyotas and Acuras to "stimulate" the economy!

Not necessarily OUR economy, of course!

SIG HEIL, WE HAVE TO HELP OUT THE JAPANESE FAT CATS TOO!!!, BUSH!!!

[jfrance5]

The entire big banking community that bleeds out funds to the rest of us is totally corrupt. They are hiding billions of dollars in pirated profits that by some miracle fell of the books. While I don''t like big government, this group shouldn''t be allowed to pass gas without permission. The only real oversite you have is a myth unless they need a fall guy to drug the public into thinking they are doing something constructive and "protecting" you. Profits beyond belief were made off of the people that either are suffering or going to in the immediate future. Unless you are part of this pantie raid and get out of jail free club it''s just going to be more of the same. People are going to continue to get trashed until the system can be righted. Right now all the bankers are still getting rich by pocketing these funds in all kinds of cute way while setting up the taxpayer to foot the bill. The only decent people left in this country are the victims. By the way, I''ve been in banking for 35 years.

[photogeezer]

Priorities.

The young people upon whose shoulders we have placed these military adventures must wait until August 2009 to receive any education benefit under the new GI Bill.

Priorities.

[misssuzq]

$15 BILLION dollars - you could give each American CITIZEN a couple of million so that we could afford to make purchases to keep things afloat!

Rebuild devastated areas from floods, hurricanes and tornados.

NATURAL disasters, not man made ones.

No one is saving American CITIZENS and we are not being asked via a vote as to what we would like or not like to be done, so money is being given away like Monopoly money.

[jntlw-2009]

Our government and banking system are so corrupt it is a miracle we have not turned into a third world country overnight. We must get rid of the Federal Reserve and go back to printing our own money. This private investor scheme (The Fed) has gone on far too long already. Dump them and just let them know we don''t owe them a cent since the loans they gave us are money created from thin air and backed only by more thin air. Enough of this charade!

[misssuzq]

Also, why can''t we get countries to payback the gazillions that we have given them?

Why is it that we take care of people who hate us and not our own American CITIZENS and out own country?

These are things that the government did without our approval - we only get a choice of of elected officials but never get to voice our opinion of dumba$$ decisions that they make!

$15 BILLION dollars - you could give each American CITIZEN a couple of million so that we could afford to make purchases to keep things afloat!

Rebuild devastated areas from floods, hurricanes and tornados. NATURAL disasters, not man made ones.

No one is saving American CITIZENS and we are not being asked via a vote as to what we would like or not like to be done, so money is being given away like Monopoly money.

[omega40]

Timbuks got a blog. Google Timbuk blog bush mass and that will get you there.

Posted by lady_organs


Will do, thanks for the info!

[whitemale08]

So Hank the Snake Paulson gives 15 billion more to banks after he said about a month ago that he wants his legacy to be that he was "the one who stabilized the financial system".

I got knews for you, YOU DID NO SUCH THING!!!

In fact you made it worse.

You only prolonged the inevitable plunge into a New Dark Age you idiot.

Who in their right mind will buy all of the trillions in government securities unless Obama starts to use as collateral government property, state highways, and ''too big to fail'' private entities now being traded as ''stake for the government''.

Eventually Obama will have to force sell that collateral to pay off government debt like any other 3rd world government.

Once that happens we will totally be dependent on IMF/World Bank loans like the 3rd world country we are.

[texasbeta]

Grouch - don''t start - you know we had income tax 100 years ago, and before, but it was repealled. We went through this before.

[noloyalisti]

Good, let''s send even more of Main Street''s money to the rich corporate criminals. Then they can have even more money for wars.