Government has PROFITED 16 billion so far from TARP.

[phleshdef]

Those that have accused this administration of "handing over tax payer dollars to bankers and CEOs" are seriously running out of ammo.

Earlier Wednesday, Citigroup /quotes/comstock/13*!c/quotes/nls/c (C 3.29, -0.05, -1.50%) and Wells Fargo /quotes/comstock/13*!wfc/quotes/nls/wfc (WFC 26.81, -0.04, -0.15%) said they repaid $45 billion that they got from TARP. That brings the total amount repaid into the program to $164 billion, the Treasury explained. Read about Citi and Wells repayments.

Total repayments by TARP banks should top $175 billion by the end of 2010, cutting taxpayer exposure to the sector by three-quarters, the Treasury estimated.

"Taxpayers have already received over $16 billion in profits from all TARP programs and that profit could be considerably higher as the Treasury sells additional warrants in the weeks ahead," the Treasury said in a statement.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tarp-profit-at-least-16-bln-so-far-treasury-2009-12-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp

[valerief]

1. Blackwater money for their WARS. nt

[phleshdef]

2. You people sound like broken records (playing really, really bad music).

Most likely disco.

[valerief]

20. I LOVE disco!!!! nt

[Cha]

22. Screeching bad, monotonous disco.

[valerief]

25. Oh, honeybunny, time to dance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_sY2rjxq6M&feature=PlayList&p=980CC6B2E4429CCF&index=91

:hi:

[KrR]

12. So when one poutrage is disproved

You just move on to another with no acknowledgement?

[valerief]

23. I don't understand. nt

[Bodhi BloodWave]

35. *ding ding ding* We have a winning comment n/t

[valerief]

36. It's my bully deflection. nt

[niceypoo]

34. They are 'repaying' it by being given massive tax cuts

U.S. gave up billions in tax money in deal for Citigroup's bailout repayment

The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis.

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.

While the Obama administration has said taxpayers are likely to profit from the sale of the Citigroup shares, accounting experts said the lost tax revenue could easily outstrip those profits.

The IRS, an arm of the Treasury Department, has changed a number of rules during the financial crisis to reduce the tax burden on financial firms. The rule changed Friday also was altered last fall by the Bush administration to encourage mergers, letting Wells Fargo cut billions of dollars from its tax bill by buying the ailing Wachovia.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/12/15/ST2009121505381.html?sid=ST2009121505381

[DontTreadOnMe]

3. Meanwhile ONE MILLION home foreclosures for 2009

They fixed the leak in the yacht, but alot of rowboats went to the bottom.

[MercutioATC]

4. I'm not going to confront you at all.

Please just remember that I expressed my doubts when/if this house of cards comes crashing down.

[phleshdef]

7. You mean the house of cards where the economy is saved and tax payers get their money back?

I know, you hate it right. Thats why it must feel SOOO good.

[MercutioATC]

10. You might not remember my name, but you'll remember my avatar.

Chicken Little expresses his extreme skepticism.

[phleshdef]

16. Hehe, ok, catching on now.

[MercutioATC]

18. No, the sentiment is real.

The avatar is a reaction to being called a "chicken little" so much here at DU that I decided to own it.

I really do think we're headed for a world of financial hurt.

[AllentownJake]

41. I chose Jane Curtain in the shower

Because my post attract a certain subset of DU to them with the long knives.

[MercutioATC]

42. Appropriate!

You really DO seem to be the messenger everybody sharpens their knives for :)

[AllentownJake]

43. I used to be one of them

That pisses them off more than anything.

[MercutioATC]

44. Welcome to the dark side.

...and by "dark", I mean "rational".

[eppur_se_muova]

48. Jane Curtin?? Ummm, that's Janet Leigh ... nt

[AllentownJake]

53. Oops

:blush:

[ClarkUSA]

5. I read on Yahoo News today that TARP is coming $200B under projected costs under Pres. Obama.

BushCo had no strings attached. Pres. Obama attached plenty in 2/09, including 5% interest.

Thanks for the FACTS. As a taxpayer, I like Pres. Obama's stewardship of the economy BushCo nearly ruined beyond repair.

:thumbsup:

[Schema Thing]

30. remind me what happened wrt TARP in 2/09?

no snark here. just don't remember.

[Hydra]

6. Right...what about the other $350 billion that disappeared?

Tell you what, give me 700 trillion dollars and I'll pay back $200 billion + interest.

Better than we'll ever get back.

[phleshdef]

11. Um, the whole 700 billion hasn't even been spent and you are forgetting the job saving auto bailout.

[Hydra]

55. I agreed with the auto bailout

But I didn't agree with the first $350 billion, and I bet we never get that back, or any real benefit from it. I bet we lose another $200 billion on top of that, which would put my proposal on top with what I offered to pay back with interest.

[inna]

8. Please educate yourself. It's MULIPLE TRILLIONS at the expense of taxpayers.

[phleshdef]

13. Please learn basic mathematical comparisons. At most, its 700 billion and thats less than multiple..

...trillions. LOL, thats the kind of bullshit I love though, I can almost FEEL the foam spitting out of your mouth.

[inna]

26. re. "foam spitting" - lol, pure projection on your part.

but whatever. :shrug: like i said, educate yourself. the measly $700 billion is a tiny fraction of what it actually cost (and continues to cost) the taxpayers in terms of bailing out the finance industry.

otoh, ignorance is bliss.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[inna]

28. lol, enjoy your stay.

:hi:

[tranche]

24. The OP is talking about TARP. You're problably trying to ad

up the costs of ALL the bailout initiatives, including Fed actions. Or maybe you're talking about the value of the derivatives market. Who knows.

[inna]

29. "You're problably trying to ad up the costs of ALL the bailout initiatives, including Fed actions."

I was, actually. Thanks for a correction, I was not thinking in terms of just that single bailout initiative.

[AndyA]

9. Did you figure in Citigroups multi-billion dollar tax break?

When included, we (the American people) lost money on the deal. Citigroup got a $38 billion tax break, which far exceeds what they borrowed and paid back.

[phleshdef]

15. We put up 700 billion, we are getting most of that back, end of story.

If you have a problem with citigroup getting a tax break, thats a separate issue, whether you like it or not.

[valerief]

27. And we'll spend it all on WAR. nt

[AndyA]

31. MOST, not ALL. Just MOST.

Not good enough.

Not the end of the story. Thanks for playing. Next!

[AllentownJake]

40. No it is not a seperate issue

because the tax break was not through legislation, it was through rule interpretation by the department that was collecting their TARP payments. Fuck, why are people so stupid.

[phleshdef]

56. Its a different issue because it wasn't money loaned/granted.

I know you are feeling very butt hurt that your TARP related talking points are being stripped away from you, annihilated and rendered useless to your anti-Obama agenda, fucking cry about it, might make you feel better.

[AllentownJake]

39. No they don't count that

Nor do they count the similar tax breaks that will be discovered at the other banks. This TARP thing was fraud when it was enacted and is fraud now and the Government is trying to find a way to save face over it.

[msongs]

17. ALL the money has been paid back PLUS $16 billion extra? nt

[phleshdef]

19. Something like that, the treasury is getting paid dividends on some of the tarp money.

[Better Today]

21. It would be a heck of a lot more if they weren't making forgiveness deals to Citi

and then who else down the road now that the precedence has been set.

[brentspeak]

32. Wrong. The taxpayer is still in-the-red for at least $43 billion from TARP

http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/21/tarp-banking-pnc-business-washington-tarp.html

WASHINGTON -- When Wells Fargo and Citigroup's TARP repayment checks finally clear, America's banks will have paid back $146 billion of the $205 billion taxpayers lent them during the banking crisis. Which means there's still $59 billion waiting to come back (not to mention the special assistance to AIG and the auto industry, which may never be returned).

When will it be repaid? No time soon...

If the $146 billion paid back yielded a $16 billion dividend payment, that still leaves $59 billion - $16 billion = $43 billion the ledger requires to return to in-the-black. One hasn't made a "profit" until revenue exceeds expenses paid.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

37. It may be less than that...

Rolled into the cost of TARP was the assumption that the servicing of these debts would cost more than it actually did -- it's less because the funds were paid back earlier. Nearly $80 billion in projected interest costs were eliminated by the early repayments so part of the "profit" is actually just costs that were avoided. In any case, this is good news.

[ipaint]

33. Good, can we use 14 billion to fund health care centers and dump the shitty ins. reform? nt

[AllentownJake]

38. Such Utter Bullshit

It has been revealed that Citigroup was given tax breaks through rule interpretations, as far as TARP is concerned there is a giant fucking accounting shell game going on that would be able to be figured out by a first year auditor with a C average.

I'm sure in the coming months we'll hear all the banks got similar deals.

[jb24]

45. Woohoo! Mission accomplished!

Only if you forget about the trillions of dollars of damage wreaked upon the economy through their fraudulent "financial engineering" schemes and dodgy derivatives, not to mention the social cost...who cares about whatever puny amount of 'profit' we make if no strict financial regulation of derivatives and other financial products is enacted? The same thing will keep happening over and over.

[niceypoo]

47. There is no profit

The government gave special tax cuts which makes the debt owed just go away, as if it has been paid back.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/12/15/ST2009121505381.html?sid=ST2009121505381

Just another scam on the American people

[MannyGoldstein]

46. Holy Accounting Silliness, Batman!

Sure, if you only count what's been paid back. If you count the entire thing, it's extraordinarily unlikely to do anything but lose a torrent of money.

And TARP is only a small fraction of all the banker handouts.

[scheming daemons]

49. The "let it fail" brigade doesn't want to hear that it worked...

...they didn't WANT the economy saved.


They wanted it to collapse...because they feel that's the only way to bring about a socialist utopia.


Any success story hurts their end game.

[mcablue]

50. The heatline says "Treasury says" that a 16 bil. profit has been made

Geithner's agency says so. It must be true!

[jeanpalmer]

51. Plus the credit card giveaway

They'll reap trillions off that. Of course, that was the intent.

Also, the Fed bought $1.3 trillion of mortgage-backed securities from them. I'm sure we'll make a profit on those.

[jeanpalmer]

52. Plus the $50 billion

funneled to them through AIG. It's not coming back, it's already been paid out in bonuses.

[DCBob]

54. The numbers can be debated but clearly the program has worked and

it has not been a catatrophic complete waste of money as many had predicted.