Bailout = $3.5 Trillion

[4RE KLR]

This just gets better everyday. The bailout is growing faster by the second.

This does not include bailing out the big three.


Bailout Price Tag: $3.5T So Far, But 'Real' Cost May Be Much Higher
Posted Nov 12, 2008 10:16am EST by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Recession, Banking
Related: AIG, FNM, FRE, XLF, ^DJI, ^GSPC, C

While the government is clearly spending a lot of taxpayers' money to bail out financial firms, the tally is even bigger than most Americans (economists and pundits included) are probably aware or willing to admit.

The bailout bonanza has gotten so big and happened so fast it's the true cost often gets lost in the discussion. Maybe Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke prefer it that way because the tally so far is nearly $3.5 trillion, and that's before a likely handout for the auto industry.

Yes, $3.45 trillion has already been spent, as Bailoutsleuth.com details:

$2T Emergency Fed Loans (the ones the Fed won't discuss, as detailed here)
$700B TARP (designed to buy bad debt, the fund is rapidly transforming as we'll discuss in an upcoming segment)
$300B Hope Now (the government's year-old attempt at mortgage workouts)
$200B Fannie/Freddie
$140B Tax Breaks for Banks (WaPo has the details)
$110B: AIG (with it's new deal this week, the big insurer got $40B of TARP money, plus $110B in other relief)



The rest of the story:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/126117/Bailout-Price-Tag-3.5T-So-Far-But-%27Real%27-Cost-May-Be-Much-Higher?tickers=AIG,FNM,FRE,XLF,^DJI,^GSPC,C

[imagine2frolic]

This is what happens when the fox guards the chicken coop. two words cover it.....NO REGULATION

[bomelia]

All I can think of is "spiraling out of control." Check kiting. Ponzi schemes. None of this can work! None of us could play this game at home. These politicians are out of their freakin minds. And if, by some small chance it does work, has the precedent been set? Its gotta take a LONG time to pay back 3.5 trillion. So if we have another failure, will the old debt be paid back in time? Or will more be piled on top? When will the big bang be heard?

Mike

[imagine2frolic]

AIG is a fine example of why we should've let them go under. When there is no punishment for bad behaviour. The only thing learned is that it is okay to be bad. The snowball is rolling, and the avalanche isn't far off.

[Smokingcobra2]

Have listen To Glenn Beck the radio talk host who has been warning us for a year about this happening and he was right. And according to his contacts this is only the tip of the iceberg
joeg