Bank bailout: What's in the plan

CNNMoney.com ^ | February 10, 2009: 4:57 PM ET | David Goldman

[cc2k]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The federal government's bank bailout just got a lot more complicated.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, 143 days after his predecessor unveiled the first financial sector rescue plan, detailed his plan on Tuesday to rescue the financial sector.

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Financial stability trust

Aim: Prop up banks' capital position to generate a higher level of lending.

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Public-private investment fund

Aim: Help banks cleanse their holdings of "toxic" assets to get private lending up and running again.

Cost: Treasury didn't yet say how much it will invest in the program. They hope their investment will spark $500 billion to $1 trillion in private sector purchases of the troubled assets.

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Consumer and business lending program

Aim: Boost lending to consumers and business in order to restore the flow of credit and lower borrowing costs.

Cost: Up to $1 trillion.

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Transparency and accountability

Aim: Monitor and make public financial institutions' use of government-provided public funds and ensure taxpayer money isn't wasted.

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Affordable housing / Foreclosure prevention

Aim: Stop preventable foreclosures and make housing more affordable by lowering interest rates.

Cost: $50 billion for new foreclosure-prevention effort to be detailed in the next few weeks; $600 billion in previously announced mortgage plan.

[cc2k]

There's more. Very big numbers and very little in details.

I thought this guy was so smart, he was the only guy who could run the treasury and get us through this. A whiz kid. Pay no attention to the fact that he can't figure out his own taxes when his employer spells it out for him.

This country will be so in debt in a year that we'll never get out.

[MHGinTN]

Um, that’s the Obama plan, the change his sycophants voted for, didn’t ya know?

[BGHater]

New boss, same as the old boss.

[DoughtyOne]

And if you'll look closely children, you'll also see Porkulus II and III in this photo from 2009.
Your great grandparents, grandparents, and parents have nearly paid off half of the cost of Porkulus now.
In 75 years or so, your great grandchildren will be able to start paying down Porkulus II.

And to think, economists then and now knew none of them would help.
They were merely ways for a party known as the Democrats,
to try to pay off people and organizations who supported them in 2008.

And those three Republican U.S. Senators, Collins, Spectre, and Snowe,
 who made them possible, became the focus of the public's wrath,
joining Benedict Arnold as one of the most loathsome individuals in U.S. history.

[Weedle]

I Want to be a Company Man!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH-368sRdXg

[OB1kNOb]

Why don’t they just cut straight to the chase and nationalize the entire banking system. That’s what they want to do anyway............../disgust