Geithner on TARP Money: ‘We Have Roughly $135 Billion Left’

Good questions – good answers – good approach to economic situation.

What a coached performance. Everytime George brought up a point, Geithner went into a coached type positive diatribe of how they are taking the right path and have to act quickly. Balony balony balony. He never delt with one concern and that’s because he can’t. We have to America. Don’t let government take over your life. Let the banks close. Let the consequences roll because the result won’t be big government telling us how to live. Get off your butts and educate yourselve. Don’t let a smooth speach roll you over.
PJ

Look. Geithner, Obama, and Congress have proved that they don’t give a flying flip about us either. Where’s a decent third party that we can join? We need one.
Signed
A disgusted democrat

Jimmy,
The Republicans don’t have to come up with a plan. Since they don’t have the numbers to stop anything all they have to do is do what the Democrats did for the past 6 years, criticize everything.

Republicans come up with a VALID plan with NUMBERS yet ?!?!?!?!? Right after the democrats do. ROFL..

Tried many times yesterday to post a question for the Secretary- never was able to get the link on the abcnews.com site to work- Would like to know what the Secretary thinks about ” too big to fail.” Doesn’t that really mean these so called too big to fail companies should be broken up so that they don’t jeopardize the entire country by taking many risks and getting us all in this terrible position?

Good morning everyone.
Republicans come up with a VALID plan with NUMBERS yet ?!?!?!?!?
Posted by: JimmyTwoTimes
=========================
Come on Jimmy. The GOP has been relegated to insignificance now. Nobody listens to those bozos.

Good! No more bailouts and no more robbing the taxpayers.
Posted by: t hill | Mar 29, 2009 9:28:54 AM
I agree with you, but unfortunately Obama/Geithner won’t commit to no more bailouts. And why should they? Most taxpayers still seem content to let those two bailout whoever they want.

Well, what’s Limbaugh & Hannity to do now. Appears the plans of President Obama and Tim Geithner are well on the way to actually working even though a few such as Paul Krugman have stated it may not be enough. What is interesting in this rhetoric of the war between the plans, of which Republicans have yet to present one, is the fact that while publicly denouncing the administrations plans, many Congressmen & women, and Senators, continue to accept campaign donations from the very institutions who has been bailed out from Tarp funds. Including Republican whip, Eric Cantor, who has been more than vocally opposed to Obama administration plans. He has accepted $2,500 from Citigroup; $5,000 from Bank of America; $1,000 from Chrysler; Republican John Boehner, House Minority Leader, who has acepted $5,000 from Bank of America; $5,000 from American Express; $1,500 from U.S. Bancorp Employee PAC. Other’s, including democrats, are on the dole as well. The reality, of course, is that these contributions, individually, aren’t a lot of money. But many members of Congress (including Speaker Pelosi and Financial Services Chair Barney Frank) have decided against taking any of the money. The optics of this for both the banks and for the members of Congress is bad, and only feeds the credibility problems both entities have with the American public. Appears to me to be rather hypocritical in the case of Cantor and Boehner who have been so openly opposed to the administration plans, spouting Limbaugh/Hannity like vile rhetoric almost on a daily basis, all while standing with a hand out behind their back being filled with taxpayer capital from the very plans they are opposing.

George and his wife are good friends with Obummer and his wife.

It was disingenuous of Treasury Secretary Geithner to simply state that the government had no legal authority to alter the terms of the agreements (credit-default-swaps) between AIG and Goldman Sachs, Merrill, etc. resulting in all of those entities receiving 100 cents on the dollar.
Geithner’s response is simply not credible. Contracts are broken and renegotiated every day; just read the sports pages!

Good Show George, for once I will agree with George Will that American’s do not care about deficeits as long as there is prosperity, so now we face the day of reckoning.
We do have to control our deficeit spending and this will be crucial to our recovery in the long run. Americans have to decide do they really want the Government to provide them everything? Personally I would like to pay down this massive deficeit.
We are a people of short memories and we are still trying to learn lessons of the great depression. Kudo’s to Mr. Will he nailed it right. We have a lot of work to do in this country. From bailouts to bonuses to our banking system. So let’s try and get this one right for our future generations.

Good session! I would have liked the segment with Stephanopoulos and Geithner to continue another hour, with Krugman also at the table for the continuation.

This is a joke right? It says right in the article that this estimate is based on a judgement “about how much money is likely to come back from banks”. What does that mean? This is not money that hasn’t been spent yet. How can you put this in the $135 billion left?
‘

George needs to wipe that brown stain off his nose.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9607
Americans Largely Silent as Their Nation is Systematically Destroyed
By JB Williams Tuesday, March 24, 2009
After trillions in taxpayer debt has been foolishly poured into the
bottomless black hole of leftist wealth redistribution programs, under
the guise of economic *stimulus* or *stabilization* legislation,
the new *ONE World* government running Washington DC announces;
Geithner, Bernanke Call for New Wind-Down Powers After AIG* and the
people still sit silent as they watch Obamanation grow in unbridled
power.
Geithner Asks Congress for even Broader Power to Seize private Firms as
the average American stumbles through their daily routine as if nothing
is happening. Canada Free Press managing editor Judi McLeod writes No
cheerleader for propping up greenback at G20 summit asking, *Is the
table being set for One World Government rather than speeding the
recovery of the worldwide recession at next week*s G20 London
summit?*
Obamanation has taken the nation from a trillion in debt to over $4
trillion in debt in the first sixty days, with even more federal
spending promised, which could put the nation $10 trillion in debt
before the 2010 mid-term election cycle. Amnesty for illegals and ACORN
led redistricting will make 2010 and beyond a moot point.
Still, beyond the movement to mail tea bags to members of congress or
file another legal demand for proof of Obama*s constitutional
eligibility for the office he holds, both of which are like whistling in
the breeze, the people remain largely silent.
Threatened with a Soup Line Existence
The American people would never trade personal freedom for the false
promise of federally redistributed free-stuff under some ill-fated
socialist experiment, unless they were first threatened with a soup line
existence.
And so it shall be*
50% of their life savings and 30% of their home values have already
evaporated into thin air. National unemployment is driving towards
double digits as home foreclosures continue to mound.
With their backs against the wall, confused by a daily diet of media
manipulated headlines aimed at scaring the public into submission,
convinced that our nation*s complex woes demand a solution far too
complicated for the average peasant to comprehend, the people find
themselves in a state of terminal paralysis.
Incompetent Evil in Charge
The same people responsible for the many disasters now surrounding
every American household, were elected in 2006 and 2008 to fix what they
broke. Instead of reversing course and placing their faith in the
principles of freedom, they are installing more of the same failed
entitlement policies that created the problem and they are doing so at a
fever pace.
The folks currently in charge of the nation don*t like anything at
all about the nation that once was. They have a very different vision
for America, one based on redistribution of free-stuff, not equal access
to freedom.
At the foundation of personal freedom is the right to make your own
decisions, invest and risk your own capital, own your own property and
keep that which you are willing to work and sacrifice to earn. It*s
called economic freedom, aka capitalism.
But capitalism is public enemy #1 in America today, thanks to decades
of class warfare and the art of division via social envy, all for
purpose of political gain.
Life, Liberty and the right to individually define and pursue Happiness
has been replaced with the right of some to take from others against
their will, in the name of a greater common good, better defined as the
entitlement mentality.
The Change Agents New World Dictionary
Old concepts have been redefined. Capitalism is now referred to as
Fascism. Personal ambition is now called greed. Those who seek access to
other people*s rightful earnings are called charitable, and those who
demand a right to only that, which they earn, are called greedy.
It isn*t just the words that have new definitions. The concepts have
new meaning as a result.
Words like socialism and communism no longer have a negative
connotation attached to them. Most Americans have no idea what they are
anymore, or why they don*t want to find out the hard way.
The concept of liberal interpretations limits the meaning of words only
to one*s individual imagination. The Constitution means only what
someone imagines it to mean. If the shoe doesn*t quite fit, a new
definition will solve the problem.
What are Americans Waiting For?
I don*t know what it will take to wake up the average American, but
whatever it is, it hasn*t happened yet*
The people currently stocking up on food, water, guns and ammo in
record numbers, causing shortages in all the above at the retail level,
are clearly awake and anticipating something, but what? Meet the
*extremists…*
The people still trying to get a court somewhere in America to hear the
arguments concerning the most secretive corrupt president in US history,
have been awake for a long time. Meet the *birthers…* But they
continue to have trouble waking anyone else up, including in the
so-called halls of justice.
Is it a bankrupt dollar and a new international currency that will get
their attention? – A North American Union? – An ACORN Army on their
doorstep? What will be the final straw that breaks the proverbial
camel*s back?
I don*t have the answer* Frankly, I expected the people to revolt
long before now. Clearly, I had underestimated the depth of apathy and
tolerance for anti-American nonsense in the average modern American. But
then, so did our nation*s founders, whom I*m certain are rolling
over in their graves in disgust by now.
The Silent Consent Continues
Nobody knows for how long or at what expense, but so far, the people
remain silent and Washington continues to profitably interpret that
silence as broad-based consent.
Here*s to the average American waking up in time! – Good luck!

It was a sure thing that propping-up these Wall Street giants would create a fiscal and economic catastrophe. The American people knew it. They called their legislators. They emailed Congress and the President and the FED. But, Washington and Wall Street keep each other in power – bailouts flow to Wall Street and campaign contributions flow to Washington. It is a system that is destroying our country.

I thought it was a good show. Geithner surprised me, I guess that I have been hearing too much that he is a “behind the scenes” kind of guy, so my expectations may have been low for his first Sunday appearance. Question on my 1 billion dollar plan went unanswered; put $3million check in the hands of every one of our 305 million Americans and let them pay off their mortgages, buy a new car, get health insurance, and pay for college. Wouldn’t that stimulate the economy enough? Not a cent needed for public works programs, nor for AIG and a fraction of the cost of what everyone else is proposing. No more toxic assets…Not even worth a try? With the numbers everyone is talking, and $3million checks not being mailed to everyone, I wonder who is profiting from this huge bailout?

I work as Project / Program Manager for a major Fortune 500 company. My team and I manage several projects at any given time including the financials. At any time in the project execution, we should be able to provide our project sponsors, where we are on the project expenditure (how much we have spent, where the money went, and how much we are left with), etc.
I am so amassed that the executive team members in Obama’s administration, when asked specific questions (in the congressional hearings as well as by news media) about how much money is spent, how much money needed for TARP and other programs going forward, the answer they give very vague. Imagine if I were to do the same for my projects at work, my project sponsors will let me out of the door by the end of the day.
One can extrapolate this to the way the treasury department is handling people’s money. We need transparency and honest answers to straight-forward questions. Obama administration in this regard is much better. Hank Paulson and his team were a bunch of idiots not knowing where they were when the crisis happened in Fall 2008 and what to do.
—————————-
Great post…..
I sincerely hope that the Congress does not authorize any more outlays until an evaluation process as to what good the outlays have done thus far has been done and made public.
Expenditures have either (1) been a waste of money, or (2) partially successful and partially a waste, or (3) completely successful and we do not need to spend any more TARP funds. We must not spend TARP funds simply because the money is there.
As to the Republicans, please lead, follow or get the hell out of the way (meaning be silent). Nothing can be done about Fox & Friends, Rush, Hannity and the rest of that lunatic right wing gang but to ignore them.

sosupernova ….what he is doing to this country and to YOUR kids future is something we don’t want he to have the chance to get, is that hard to understand, do a little study on where we will be when the operating cost of our government is 60% of the GDP. Russia is 80% getting and idea. Obama’s policy will fail at our expense, YOUR kids expense, we can’t afford for this to happen

Every time I see Geithner’s sneering face- I want to slap him.
Wall Street and the bankers have taken over this goverment.
It’s not about Dem/Repub- it’s US against THEM~!
Wake up, America.
dprogram.net
The Obama Deception

Geithner proposal for bigger, swifter government intervention and acknowledgment that it will lead to larger deficits in the short term – coupled with Krugman’s point that US is capable of maintaining its credit ratings despite higher debt/GDP ratio – is very reassuring.
I also agree and respect his and Obama’s opinion that we can’t just let the auto industry die out, given the role automotives play in America esp., with the horrible state of the public transportation system.
But one thing keeps bothering me a lot about what Geithner, Summers and other Obama officials say about the Wall St bonuses — that they were based on pre-existing contracts. Anybody who has written contracts knows 2 things (1) they can be renegotiated by the involved parties depending on the change of leverage — and at this point, the AIG execs don’t seem to have much, and (2) contracts have clauses per which, a “Change of Ownership” can trigger the entire contract open to termination or renegotiation — which has occured with the government intervention with AIG.
So why keep repeating that contracts cannot be changed on Wall St, while simultaneously asking the US auto industry unions to renegotiate their contract terms??? Are ONLY Wall St contracts unmodifiable? Is it because these guys put millions of dollars into Gov officials pockets?

IT’S ABOUT TIME WE HAD A PRESIDENT WITH SOME CLASS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

$135 Billion left. Now all they have to do is find where best to spend it? I wonder who’s owed political payback?

This latest “Bank Rescue Plan” is just a delaying action while Obama tries to get his spending plans through congress.
The Europeans know what he is doing and they do not want any part of it.
They want the US to bite the bullet and fix the Banking Problem.
Obama wants to pass massive spending on Global Warming and Massive Spending on Health Care before the true impact of the banking crisis becomes common knowledge.
Obama is willing to live with continued economic decline while he drags this out.

OBAMA HAS CLASS.. NOW THAT’S PRICELESS.. OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST.. AND YOU CALL THAT CLASS…. GEORGE AND BEGALA,AND CARVILLE , HAVE CONFERENCE CALLS WITH RAHM EVERY MORNING.. SO DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU WILL BE GETTING THE TRUTH , OUT OF ANY OF THEM… YOU LIBERALS BOUGHT OBAMA’S CRAP HOOK, LINE AND SINKER…..AND THE REST OF US WILL PAY FOR THAT MISTAKE….. OBAMA STANDS FOR ONE BIG ASS MISTAKE AMERICA….AND OBAMA IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN THE WHITE HOUSE… JUST DISGRACEFUL… THIS MAN HAS SPENT MORE MONEY THAN ALL THE PRESIDENTS COMBINED , SINCE GEORGE WASHINGTON.. AND HE’S NOT DONE… MAY GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.. WE SURE NEED IT NOW

There goes the second amendment. This is for real folks! http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/blairholt.asp

All those people buying guns, ammo and canned goods are the smart ones. The people who voted for and still support Obama…they’ve got a real lesson in store for them. If they survive, which many of them won’t, I suspect they’ll be permanently inoculated against “hope and change” rhetoric coming from a poseur elected only because of good timing and skin color.

i am small trucking company doing import and export container work needing asistance to stay in business where does a small guy like me get tarp assistance

Only $135B left? Exactly where did you spend the rest??
Support HR 1207 … the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009
Show us the money!

tHERE IS NO MONITORING OF THIS HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY. gEORGE sOROS MAY HAVE IT, ACORN MAY HAVE IT. There is no record of how the money has been spent. Obama is the biggest con man in history. And he is laughing himself silly every day. You know… the gallows humor. Just imagine the jokes BO and this Geithner tell each other. For the administration that promised clarity and openess, it is the most secretive. BO is a criminal genius.

As misguided as he is, I used to believe Obama at least thought he was doing good things for our country. Now I am beginning to wonder.

Lets all listen to the tax cheat, who pretended he did not know about the bonuses in the last bailout. Can I pretend not to pay taxes. I have not received anything from any bailout. I look forward toward this government to steal or tax me to death. Our country will never be able to pay back a ga-zillion in spending. Tax the working people for the non working people.

Scott K -
53% is NOT a vast majority, it’s just slightly better than a simple majority.
And you’re right, we need education reform; it’s just another government-run program that fails to accomplish what it’s goals. Maybe we can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a government-run health-care system, and run that into the ground too!
Sleep well, and don’t forget to pick up your welfare check in the morning.

Many experts have been questioning President Obama’s understanding of economics in the wake of his bailout packages and, more recently, his proposed budget – which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would add $9.3 trillion (with a “t”) to the national debt over 10 years. These experts question whether or not the president understands the economic consequences of his executive actions, many coming to the conclusion that he is either unaware or overly optimistic when it comes to the desired results.
These “experts” are wrong on both assertions: President Obama and his advisers know exactly what they are doing.
During this time of crisis where the nation is gripped by fear, the current administration (following the words of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel) is not going to let this opportunity pass. Obama has surrounded himself with globalist thinkers who believe America’s sovereignty is an outdated notion and that her place is not at the head of the world community as an independent nation but rather an equal part of it, on par with human rights violators such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, et al. In direct concert with this globalist mentality is the need for a global currency; the dollar should no longer be regarded as the currency of choice but relegated to a place that sees all nations holding an equal piece of legal tender. With a strong dollar, America’s citizenry would reject the move to a global currency. However, with just the right amount of fear and uncertainty, America’s citizens have proven time and time again that we will do just about anything to alleviate the pain.
Up until now the current economic crisis has helped grease the wheels in getting Americans to think that we are not invincible, that economies are susceptible to frightening times. This awareness has programmed the brains of Americans to understand the feeling of financial fear and to know they never want to experience this fear again – whatever the cost. It is this psychological conditioning that has already opened one door and will soon open two more.
What we saw behind door No. 1 was the acceptance by the American public of extremely excessive bailouts and stimulus packages disguised as a “fix” of the recession with little or no oversight. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been essentially stolen from the taxpayers on both Bush’s watch and Obama’s, yet we allow it because we don’t want to feel any more pain. Now, several spending bills later, we are staring at a multi-trillion dollar budget proposal that will force the Treasury to either print even more money or subsidize its own debt.
After trillions of new dollars have been (and continue to be) printed or government subsidized, door No. 2 will swing open, and hyperinflation will punch us squarely in the mouth! Hyperinflation occurs when you have a massive increase in the money supply that is not proportionally backed by the production of goods and services, resulting in a substantial decrease in purchasing power. Currently, we have the U.S. Treasury printing trillions of new dollars at a time when America’s GDP (the universal measure of a nations output of goods and services) is either stagnant or shrinking. The potential onset of hyperinflation is a phenomenon that will make our current economic crisis pale in comparison; again triggering America’s psyche, still fresh with the fear of financial instability, into a mad rush to once again “heal the pain.”
Bloodied by the hyperinflation punch, America’s public will stumble toward the third door, eager to bandage their wounds, and open what will be disguised as a cure-all to their ills … a one-world, global currency. Now, the onset of a truly “one-world” global currency may prove to be a few steps into this last door, but once this door is cracked, it will be nearly impossible to slam shut. First you will see a merging of the North America’s systems into one continental currency (Google amero). Most of Europe has already established the euro, and the countries comprising Africa are discussing an African Union which would recognize one continental currency. Eventually, these geographical (no longer national) currencies would likely merge at the behest of the IMF, World Bank and few geographical elites. The result: a consolidation of economic power into fewer and fewer hands causing an ever-expanding lower class and a shrinking middle class. Those not fortunate enough to be a member of the elite will find themselves financially enslaved by them.
Don’t be fooled by the purported good intentions or supposed ignorance of any administration, as the current economic policies being shoved down our throats are neither well-intended nor ignorant; rather they are coldly calculated.

Some words of wisdom from Thomas Jefferson: “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if the government returned these unused fund to the American people. That’s an accountable solution to me.

Little Timmy the tax cheat has proven time and again that a) he knows nothing and b) he is a mere puppet of the fascist dictator, der Fuehrer (aka Big O)!

So much for B.Hussein’s promise of “absolute transparency”… who got the money? how much? Hey- isn’t that our money their giving away? taxation with fraudulent representation? Who is John Galt?

Tiny Tim at Treasury and Aunt B running homeland security this administration is a joke.

I am lobbying for the government to get into the business of credit cards..interest rates at 5%, compete with these banks raping americans on credit..the government uses the profits to pay off the national debt…we get a reasonable rate..will kill the credit industry with good old capitalism..or they will have to lower their rates..get banks back to a time when they just made loans and took deposits..a way to pay off government debt without taxing the american people twice…anybody on board????

wow this makes me want to poop all over

This being the 31st of March 2009 you would think that banks would be doing their part on the economic recovery, and I am sure that “some” are, but it seems that CHASE hasn’t gotten the message. At least that is what is reflected by the most recent letter I received from them concerning REDUCING my credit line by one-half of what it was previously. To me that seems to be going in the wrong direction based on the recovery plan “freeing up” credit for the banks. They said in their letter dtd March 22, 2009 that this decision was in no way based on any credit reports or credit preformance, but that they are reducing “ALL” lines of credit, for business reason, where the available credit is greater than $500. huh!!!!!

No more TARP money. It doesnt appear to have any positive impact on the economy. Let the banks fail, let GM go into bankrupcy. Propping up failing institutions is not what our country needs.