Banks on Bailout: What Money?

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Dec. 22 2008 at 10:07 AM

Categories: Biz

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The Associated Press had the temerity to ask the banks that pocketed more than $1 billion in bailout dough, Um, so where'd the money go, anyway? To which every single one said, None of your business. Included on that list: downtown Dallas-based Comerica.

"We're not sharing any other details. We're just not at this time," said Wendy Walker, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Comerica Inc., which received $2.25 billion from the government.

Which displeases Troubled Asset Relief Program overseer Elizabeth Warren -- who can't do a damned thing about it. --Robert Wilonsky

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Sorry for the misunderstanding Scott. I hope you are not right, but you probably are.
Toots, I ain't talking about oil prices shooting up, I am talking about everything else. The taxes alone and the devaluation of the currency, by essentially throwing dollars at the problem will rot us from the core. Only real booming productivity gains can make this palatable. Toots, I was the one here telling you that oil was in a speculative bubble a year ago.
No, the price of oil will stay down. Unlike the late 70's our use of oil is decreasing and will continue. A lot of folks who are at the Baylor Business School have been getting this info from guest speakers from the Fed and it BS. Three months ago they were saying it would not get this bad and that people would start spending again. The Fed doesn't know about the future any more that Robert.
It's such a charade now, from local to federal our money has been so senselessly squandered. We better pray that we have one last chit to burn, and that Obama and his minions address this crisis earnestly and efficiently. We WILL see marked inflation as soon as 3 months--this could take a couple of years but it will run for a decade. Saddest of all, this will be coupled by a recession that will drain us all. Anybody remember the Carter years? A decade of war spending, expanded social spending and radical economic measures like price freezes coupled with an oil crisis unleashed a period of stagflation that we will see again soon.
El Rey, no doubt. Imagine if we could get 70% of the population to not file their taxes. They can't come after all of us.
How many times can a politician be duped by W. saying "I <i>need</i> you to do this. Like right now. I can't really tell you why. Everything will be cool if you just go along with me on this thing. Trust me." I guess we're still counting.
Sounds like we need another Tea Party...
How exactly do we, as a people, tell the banks "no more"? Bury all our cash in coffee cans in our backyards?
They had us by the short hairs, claiming that it would all go down the tubes if they didn't get a bailout. Well, fuck em, and where's that damn Gyro Captain at anyway?
I am trying to figure out which is the bigger group of idiots. The politicians/bureaucrats who gave away the money, the badly run businesses taking the money only to do the same things they did before that did not work, or the tax payers who have not risen up to choke the other two to death by shoving treasury IOUs down their throats.
I find it interesting that the banks got the money with no conditions while they are a big reason for the down turn and the car companies who had nothing to do with it have all these stipulations. Hmmmmm....maybe because there are no Unions in the banking industry? Anyway the banks are going to laugh at us until we do something about it. Interest rates will not go down much because they want their money. ATM rates are up Credit Card interest rates are up...... Until we tell the banking industry "No more" nothing will change.