You can officially add pre-socialization of the economy to President Bush’s legacy.
This morning, Citibank announced a massive quarterly loss of $8.29 billion. This follows a solid year of quarterly losses for the financial giant, totaling $18.72 billion. The federal government has thrown Citibank two lifelines from TARP, to the tune of $45 billion.
In similar fashion, this morning’s news informs us that Bank of America has received a second round bailout. The second bailout of $20 billion was proffered by the Bush Administration late Thursday night, in an obvious effort to avoid public scrutiny before the fact. Now BoA’s bailout also totals $45 billion.
The funds given to BoA were originally promised to other banking institutions. The incoming Obama Administration will have to find new funds for the other banks who have not yet received their bailouts, having been eclipsed by BoA and Citibank.
At this time, there is still no provision for oversight of how the bailout funds are spent. Many groups are calling for investigations into Citibank’s and Bank of America’s use of federal dollars.
Please bow your head in respect to the Free Market Economy. You have just witnessed its funeral procession. Interment will take place on January 20th.
Ed Morrissey’s thoughts here.
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1 Comment
January 16, 2009 at 10:03 pm
The Bail Out Game
There is is new web based game called the “Bail Out Game.” It has you driving a truck load of money around a Monopoly like board while you make decisions about what companies to bail out. Economic events like stock market drops often occur. This would be hilarious if it didn’t so closely resemble reality. You can play it here. Have fun while the money lasts