Rescuing America Cheaper Than Expected

By Harry Smith

Last night, the U.S. Government sold the last of its common shares of bank giant Citigroup. That sale and previous stock sales will result in a profit for U.S. tax payers of about $12 billion. TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program poured forty five billion dollars into Citigroup during the darkest days of the economic collapse. To get all of it back and make a twelve billion dollar profit is a good deal by any estimation. But, bailout is a dirty word in America. Rescuing those fat cat bankers was big mistake, folks will tell you. Seven-hundred billion dollars went to those rascals. And do you know what? Almost all of it has been paid back. When the latest numbers were crunched, rescuing the American financial system will cost about $25 billion. That's nothing. But, to avoid a total economic collapse....it seems almost cheap.

Just a Minute...I'm Harry Smith, CBS News