Every day that goes by this entire situation is evolving into the
"Great Government Giveaway." 
Just convert to a bank, back up the truck and take all the money
you want. And if you fail, don't worry!! The US taxpayers will pick
up the tab for you. 
Now who in their right mind would pass up a deal like that??!!
This whole thing seems to be spinning out of control now.
Everyone wants to stuff money into banks' coffers, but no one
wants to solve the real problem...which is buying up the "toxic"
mortgages and restructuring them so folks can have a chance to
stay in their homes. Instead, it's turned into a big game of getting
the highest return on taxpayer dollars.
In other words, as long as you can be seen doing something, no one
can accuse you of not doing anything. The fact that it's not solving
the problem doesn't matter...especially if solving the problem proves
too difficult or unpopular. But the ironic thing is that the powers-that-be
know exactly how much these bad assets are worth and they could
sell them tomorow if they wanted to. They just don't want to...which makes
me wonder why Congress gave them $700 Billion in the first place...
What a mess....
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"
Thanks Bzzzymom. Your kind words are greatly appreciated. 
One final comment about bank bailouts:
I was listening to one of the talking heads on Bloomberg last night while
eating supper. He admitted that the reason banks never sold their toxic
paper (bad mortgages) is that doing so would have pretty much wiped out
all their assets. So instead, the US Treasury gave the banks billions of
dollars..which they promptly placed into an interest-bearing account to pad
their pockets. But the bad assets are still on their books.
Did anyone ever think to instruct the banks to get rid of the bad assets
first..and THEN give them the billions they "needed" to stay in business?
This way, the problem would have been solved and the banks would be free
to start lending again with fresh and healthy balance sheets. Then the Treasury
would use the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to work with homeowners
and help get them back on their feet.
Am I the only one who sees this...or has our federal government once again gone
out of its way to make a relatively simple process overly complicated???
On second thought, never mind...I already know the answer to that question....
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"
@Anonymous wrote:Thanks Bzzzymom. Your kind words are greatly appreciated.
One final comment about bank bailouts:
I was listening to one of the talking heads on Bloomberg last night while
eating supper. He admitted that the reason banks never sold their toxic
paper (bad mortgages) is that doing so would have pretty much wiped out
all their assets. So instead, the US Treasury gave the banks billions of
dollars..which they promptly placed into an interest-bearing account to pad
their pockets. But the bad assets are still on their books.
Did anyone ever think to instruct the banks to get rid of the bad assets
first..and THEN give them the billions they "needed" to stay in business?
This way, the problem would have been solved and the banks would be free
to start lending again with fresh and healthy balance sheets. Then the Treasury
would use the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to work with homeowners
and help get them back on their feet.
Am I the only one who sees this...or has our federal government once again gone
out of its way to make a relatively simple process overly complicated???
On second thought, never mind...I already know the answer to that question....
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"
I was pleased with the answer to the automakers request for assistance, basically "show us what you're going to do differently so this is a good investment" and wish this was the answer to all the bailout requests.
In the real world, how else do you get financial help? 
My point exactly, n2win.
The opposite approach should have been taken as you suggest:
First, make the banks do something that demonstrates change....
like sell the bad mortgages to the Treasury to clean up their books.
Then --- and only then --- should the Fed have provided them with
all the funding they needed. Now their balance sheets are clean and
they're motivated to start lending again in order to generate cash flow.
And the Fed has the staying power to hold on these mortgages and
turn them into performing assets over time as they work with homeowners
to get them back on their feet.
But the way things played out, the Treasury made everyone believe that
the sky was falling and that it would make more sense to just stuff banks'
coffers with gobs of money. They could worry about the bad assets later.
Well, the sky didn't fall but things aren't much better either. The banks are
flush with cash but refuse to lend it, and the bad assets are still on their
books. So what have we solved really??!!
From my vantage point, it's nothing more than jawboning and a bunch
of banks earning interest on the peoples' money at our expense. Hopefully,
in the future they won't get any more money until they actually prove that
they've done something to deserve it...
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"
@Anonymous wrote:My point exactly, n2win.
The opposite approach should have been taken as you suggest:
First, make the banks do something that demonstrates change....
like sell the bad mortgages to the Treasury to clean up their books.
Then --- and only then --- should the Fed have provided them with
all the funding they needed. Now their balance sheets are clean and
they're motivated to start lending again in order to generate cash flow.
And the Fed has the staying power to hold on these mortgages and
turn them into performing assets over time as they work with homeowners
to get them back on their feet.
But the way things played out, the Treasury made everyone believe that
the sky was falling and that it would make more sense to just stuff banks'
coffers with gobs of money. They could worry about the bad assets later.
Well, the sky didn't fall but things aren't much better either. The banks are
flush with cash but refuse to lend it, and the bad assets are still on their
books. So what have we solved really??!!
From my vantage point, it's nothing more than jawboning and a bunch
of banks earning interest on the peoples' money at our expense.
Hopefully,
in the future they won't get any more money until they actually prove that
they've done something to deserve it...
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"
It would be fabulous if the rest of our "investments" could play out with a dash of accountability thrown in...
The "Big 3", that's a good start. It's time for transparancy, and, dare I say it, Common Sense!
