Welfare Queens lined up for handouts

[marmar]

AP, via USAToday:



Banks, investment firms ramp up Fed borrowing



WASHINGTON (AP) — Banks and investment firms ramped up borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, providing fresh evidence of the credit stresses squeezing the country.

The Fed's report released Thursday said commercial banks averaged $44.5 billion in daily borrowing over the past week. That compared with a daily average of $39.36 billion in the previous week.

For the week ending Wednesday, investment firms drew $147.7 billion. That was up significantly from $88.15 billion in the previous week. This category was broadened last week to include any loans that were made to the U.S. and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

The Fed report also showed that $122.1 billion worth of loans were made to money market mutual funds — via banks — to help the funds, which have been under pressure as skittish investors demand withdrawals.

The report comes as Washington policymakers battle the worst financial crisis since the stock market crash of 1929. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-10-02-fed-borrowing_N.htm

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I guess these guys would be called "Welfare Kings"..

[mike_c]

2. must *we* use terms like "welfare queens?"

I think we can do better than that.

[marmar]

3. It's called irony......chill out.

n/t

[Sal Minella]

4. That was a Ronald Reagan coinage, iirc.

The man who thought you could take $25 in food stamps into a grocery store, buy an orange, and take the change to the liquor store and stock up. Him. Him whose "magic of the marketplace" seems to have run out of steam as of last week.