While many taxpayers and federal officials have called for the government to wind down its spending on its various federal bailout programs, the Obama administration has just announced a new housing bailout to help fix the housing market. The plan would be geared to assist state and local housing finance agencies.
These agencies help first-time and lower-income homebuyers to secure a mortgage and also help to develop or renovate rental properties. Obama administration officials have not yet placed a price tag on the program but have also assured that none of the money spent on the program will come from the …read more

Financial giant Goldman Sachs has gotten plenty flak from the public outrage over its role in initiating the financial crisis that has made life difficult for so many Americans. For the most part, Goldman Sachs has taken the criticisms of its greed and recklessness in stride.
However, chief executive Lloyd Bankfein has asserted that Goldman Sachs did not get any special treatment by the government to counter several suggestions that it did.
A variety of Goldman Sachs executives have gone on to hold top-tier positions in the United States government, such as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who was once a Goldman CEO. …read more

Wells Fargo was one of the first banks to receive federal bailout money as part of the economic stimulus package and it will be one of the last to pay the government back what it borrowed. A Wells Fargo spokesperson stated that the company will return $25 billion to the government soon without selling any additional stock.
Out of the first nine huge financial institutions that received bailout money, only Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup have still not paid the government back. However, Bank of American and Citigroup both received aid on two separate occasions, with Bank of America …read more

Bank bailout money is repaid with interest. But the initial profit could disappear if losses from assets the government now owns are sustained.

While auto dealers across the country have certainly appreciated the influx of customers as part of the savings to be had in the Cash for Clunkers program, several dealers have expressed concern over the amount of time the government is taking to issue the rebate checks. However, Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood has reassured dealers across America, making it clear that dealers will be reimbursed.
 
Skepticism concerning the program has led several auto dealers to not even participate, while others have questioned whether or not they should continue with the program given the weakness of the economy and the need for cash …read more

According to the Congressional Oversight Panel in its monthly report, the TARP fund may need to infuse more capital into regional and other smaller banks in order to deal with troubled loans. The panel recommends that anywhere from $12 billion to $14 billion be siphoned off into smaller banks.
The committee was formed to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program, monitoring any changes that lawmakers may need to authorize in order to improve the program. So far, the COP has found that bigger banks have been able to cope well with troubled loans, recommending that the government instead focus on banks …read more

John Stewart describes how the rest of us support big banks.

With the recession still raging, it may come as no surprise that many Americans’ opinions of the Federal Reserve, the government’s most important financial agency, have started to sour. This time in 2003, 53 percent of Americans thought the Federal Reserve was doing an excellent to good job, compared to 30 percent today, according to a recent Gallup poll.
 
One of the most contentious issues surrounding the Federal Reserve is the support of the taxpayer bailouts on the part of the Fed and its chairman, Ben Bernanke. However, many analysts also have determined that Bernanke’s actions have had a significant impact …read more

Credit card giant American Express has reported a $337 million profit in its second quarter, which marks a 48 percent decrease in profits from the same time last year, when the company earned $660 million in profits. American Express has blamed its relative underperformance on its move to pay off some of the money that it received from the government bailout.
 
According to American Express, the company’s profits, excluding the costs involved in paying back at least some of the money the company received as part of the TARP program, are actually three times higher than what they reported. Analyst predictions, …read more

Ford Motor Co. has emerged as the strongest American automaker off the heels of its second-quarter profit of $2.3 billion. However, analysts wonder if Ford can maintain its positive momentum, especially considering that Ford’s profit mostly comes from its debt-cutting measures reducing interest payments as well as letting go of 1,000 workers.
 
During the last quarter, Ford managed to reduce its debt by about $10.1 billion, letting go of a significant amount of interest payments. This has helped Ford to mitigate its $424 million loss in its automotive production and financing business, which is still much better than Ford did the …read more