Posted on 09/22/2008 12:41:06 AM PDT by ARCADIA
The U.S. Treasury Department is working through the weekend with Congress to craft a plan to spend as much as $700 billion to absorb bad mortgages and other assets from bank or other institution balance sheets to keep the financial system from collapsing.
The move comes close on the heels of an $85 billion Federal Reserve rescue of American International Group [AIG 3.85 1.16 (+43.12%) ] and the Treasury's takeover of housing finance firms Fannie Mae [FNM 0.69 --- UNCH (0) ] and Freddie Mac [FRE 0.55 --- UNCH (0) ].
The Treasury plan, which follows a new federal guarantee for money market fund holdings, would push Washington's potential bailout tab to $1.8 trillion.
Following are details of actions, proposals and amounts:
—Up to $700 billion to buy assets from struggling institutions. The plan is aimed at sopping up residential and commercial mortgages from financial institutions but gives Treasury broad latitude.
—Up to $50 billion from the Great Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee principal in money market mutual funds to provide the same confidence that consumers have in federally insured bank deposits.
—The Fed committed to make unspecified discount window loans to financial institutions to finance the purchase of assets from money market funds to aid redemptions.
—At least $10 billion in Treasury direct purchases of mortgage-backed securities in September. In doubling the program on Friday, the Treasury said it may purchase even more in the months ahead.
—Up to $144 billion in additional MBS purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The Treasury announced they would increase purchases up to the newly expanded investment portfolio limits of $850 billion each. On July 30, the Fannie portfolio stood at $758.1 billion with Freddie's at $798.2 billion.
—$85 billion loan for AIG, which would give the Federal government a 79.9 percent stake and avoid a bankruptcy filing for the embattled insurer. AIG management will be dismissed.
—At least $87 billion in repayments to JPMorgan Chase [JPM 47.05 6.75 (+16.75%) ] for providing financing to underpin trades with units of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers [LEH 0.2151 0.1631 (+313.65%) ]. Paulson said over the weekend he was adamant that public funds not be used to rescue the firm.
—$200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury will inject up to $100 billion into each institution by purchasing preferred stock to shore up their capital as needed. The deal puts the two housing finance firms under government control.
—$300 billion for the Federal Housing Administration to refinance failing mortgage into new, reduced-principal loans with a federal guarantee, passed as part of a broad housing rescue bill.
—$4 billion in grants to local communities to help them buy and repair homes abandoned due to mortgage foreclosures.
—$29 billion in financing for JPMorgan Chase's government-brokered buyout of Bear Stearns in March. The Fed agreed to take $30 billion in questionable Bear assets as collateral, making JPMorgan liable for the first $1 billion in losses, while agreeing to shoulder any further losses.
—At least $200 billion of currently outstanding loans to banks issued through the Fed's Term Auction Facility, which was recently expanded to allow for longer loans of 84 days alongside the previous 28-day credits.
The United Socialist States of America
Where is the money going to come from?
I’m speechless, except to say this is a crock of sh!t.
You, your children, your grand children, your great grand children and their great grand children.
Or in five to ten years we enter into an era of hyper inflation after which you will need $500.00 to buy a loaf of bread.
Pick your poison.
McCain=USA
Obama=USSA
You don't see this?
In the last week the Federal Government has Nationalized a major corporation, taken over banks, dumped billions of tax dollars into the Stock Market, restricted short selling and will this week hand the Security of the Treasury powers that cannot be reviewed by any court in the land.
We are now a Socialist State
You don’t see this?
Deposit banking requires that there is enough cash to cover assets (real property, other tangible properties, etc.) in order to avoid hoarding and other problems. In other words, they’re trying ways to get more investor trust and more money circulating. The big securities schemes are done along with crazy leverage and giant bonuses.
The real question is, IMO, when would we be ready to enter the deflationary panic period? Could that be avoided in other ways?
He will own 79.9% of AIG, which has income, and will be paid nearly 10% on the loans
yitbosyitbos
Yes ... through angry tears ... I do.
Asia up this morning, Europe down.
That should be the reaction of every person who calls themselves a Conservative.
“where’s the money going?”...
You can bet it’s not back to the people who have just gotten screwed with the bill.
“Where is the money going to come from?”
You. Your children. Your grandchildren.
This is a naked wealth transfer from your pocket to Wall Street. Socialism is socialism whether it has a “D” or an “R” after it.
“Do not worry. You may borrow all the money you need.”
-Uncle Mao
It wil come from us, our children and grandchldren.
An open ended deal as proposed will end up costing not hundreds of billions, it will mount to trillions of dollars and will develop into a bigger scandal than the current banking abuse it is supposed to cover up.
How can anyone expect politicians and bankers with an open checkbook to do anything but spend taxpayer money in their own interest?
The President is 100% wrong on this.
If this deal goes through it will be a failure of unprecedented magnitude and will become George Bush's real legacy.
How loud would republicans and conservatives be squawking if a democrat president proposed a give-away deal like this?
Could the same thing that happened to the Soviet Union be happening to the USA? Could the dollar become so worthless that the USA simply evaporates, to be replaced by 50 independent states (each with its own currency), all competing for the best and brightest? And might this be better than what we’ve known for 40 years?
If that’s the justification, though, why not have the government take over all sorts of distressed private companies and turn them into state-owned enterprises? Once you accept the notion that nationalization is justifiable in cases where the government might recoup its costs or even turn a profit, what is next? Once this precedent is set, where is the new Pale beyond which we simply cannot go?
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