The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller

Put the Federal Reserve on a budget

| J. Bradley Jansen

Putting the Fed on a budget would both save taxpayers money and make the Fed more efficient.

TARP losses now estimated at $51 billion - LAT

| interns

The Treasury Department expects to incur more “substantial losses” from the separate government seizure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Happy birthday, bank bailout!

| Mark Calabria

Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of TARP. Looking back, it’s clear that TARP didn’t live up to expectations.

TARP cost could be much less than initially expected - NYT

| interns

It could end up losing much less than the initial figure of 700 billion

TARP again?

| Larry Kudlow

Small businesses and banks don’t want any part of Obama’s new program.

Treasury set to drastically cut TARP cost estimate - FT

| interns

The administration is set to lower its estimate of the cost of TARP when it celebrates the end of the bail-out effort next week

Treasury Dept. secretly gives Maxine Waters-linked bank special bailout treatment - WaPo

| Vince Coglianese

OneUnited Bank received special treatment that went beyond what the Treasury Department or the bank and its political supporters have previously disclosed

Warren: TARP hurting small banks - CNBC

| interns

The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) places more burdens on small banks than on big ones

Geithner says bailout money is being repaid - AP

| interns

Treasury secretary tells watchdog panel that taxpayers are recovering their investment from the financial bailouts; acknowledges there will probably be loss from rescue of insurer, American International Group

Larry Kudlow: How to save Europe - The Daily Caller

| Larry Kudlow

A blanket loan guarantee for European bank debt would put an end to this crazy Greek drama

Wells Fargo warrants up for auction - Forbes

| interns

The Treasury Department will be putting its Wells Fargo warrants up for auction Thursday

The GM/TARP shell game

| Sarah Lee

People have been suspicious of government since governments began. But the interesting and unique aspect to this equation is the medium in which the government is promoting its agenda, namely, hiding behind a “private” company using traditional advertising

Wed.'s Puts and Calls: The government's post-bailout fiduciary duty - The Daily Caller

| Tom Karol

Fiduciary duty, possible new limits on corporate donations and financial and health reform

Obama stumbled on Wall Street

| Alan Reynolds

Do threats of tighter regulations and higher taxes on banks sound like a way to increase lending? President Obama seems to think so

Financial reform will probably happen – but will it work?

| Charles Horn

We may end up with more regulation, but not necessarily better regulation. I wish we could do better

TARP-ing the middle class is an outrage

| Larry Kudlow

As America’s nanny state grows larger, its economy will grow weaker. With everybody focused on Obamacare and its new entitlement spending and taxing, the administration has tried to sneak in yet another bailout for housing. Yet again, Team Obama is rewarding reckless behavior, punishing the 90 percent of responsible homeowners

FDIC Report and Banks

| AJ

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released its Quarterly Banking Profile (QBP) for year-end 2009. Things have never been worse for the banking system: bad loans (loans that are 90 days or more past due) account for 5.37% of all loans and leases, an all-time record; net charge-offs (NCOs) – losses taken on bad loans – totaled $53.0 billion, or 2.89% (annualized), in the fourth quarter which is also the highest rate ever recorded in the QBP’s 26 year history

Raising Wall Street's TARP tax - The Daily Caller

| Aleksandra Kulczuga

Senate voting on 50 percent bonus tax on Wall Street TARP recipients

Treasury official: No such thing as 'too big to fail' - Wall Street Journal

| interns

There is no U.S. government guarantee to protect the largest financial firms, a Treasury Department official said Thursday, as a congressional watchdog criticized the $45 billion in government aid provided to Citigroup