“Troubled Asset Relief Program” on The Daily Caller

The Obama administration is set to lower its estimate of the cost of the troubled asset relief programme when it celebrates the end of the bail-out effort next week, senior administration officials say. (more)

From the moment Boston-based OneUnited Bank began seeking a federal bailout in the summer of 2008, it received special treatment that went beyond what the Treasury Department or the bank and its political supporters have previously disclosed. (more)

News of Elizabeth Warren’s decision not to return to classes this fall at Harvard Law School has sparked renewed speculation that President Obama will nominate the law professor to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). (more)

The economic news yesterday was dominated by two pieces of labor market data: new claims for unemployment insurance rose to 500,000 this week and small businesses accounted for 86 percent of job losses in the 4th quarter of 2009 (up from about 64 percent a year earlier).  Small business employment dynamics link these two facts.  But the White House has the diagnosis and policy wrong. (more)

The U.S. economy faces even more difficult times ahead with chronic unemployment and slow manufacturing hurting the recovery, the head of Congress’ budget agency said on Thursday. (more)

Arizona Sen. John McCain missed an opportunity during the 2008 presidential election to save his “sinking Republican ticket” when he supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) legislation, according to a new book on the Tea Party movement co-authored by former GOP leader Dick Armey that hits bookshelves today. (more)

When it comes to federal spending, it easy to become numb to numbers: $180,000,000,000 to AIG; $150,000,000,000 to Fannie and Freddie; and now $26,100,000,000 to bailout the states (on top of an earlier $53,600,000,000 state education bailout described an “historic,” “temporary” and “one-time appropriation” way back . . . in 2009).  All those zeros start to run together pretty quickly.  And when the federal government is running a year-to-date deficit of $1.2 trillion, isn’t another $26.1 billion practically a rounding error?  Horrifyingly, yes.  But the latest state bailout is a particularly flagitious swindle that deserves your attention. (more)

The bank at the center of a House ethics investigation of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters was the weakest to receive funds from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program at the time of its rescue, according to an analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop. (more)

A new wave of corruption scandals is building in Washington. Or, rather, we’re beginning to see the wave come ashore. This time, it’s Democrats washing up – Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and a host of other representatives up on ethical and possible criminal charges.  Of course, corruption among government officials is as old as government itself.  As the clichéd fable goes, a scorpion will sting no matter what he promised the frog. (more)

It’s not a news flash that the rapid growth of the federal government is alarming a large number of Americans.  Their outrage is witnessed in the rise of the Tea Party movement that marched on the National Mall and flocked to town hall meetings with an “SOS message” to Congress: Stop Over-Spending! But are lawmakers hearing this plea? A recent study from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) provides clues that at least some may be opening their ears.  For the first time in over a decade, there is a rising number of representatives and senators whose legislative agendas, if enacted into law, would decrease spending. (more)

The Senate voted on Thursday to include a proposed $30 billion lending program in a package of aid for small businesses, as two Republicans joined with Democrats to support the amendment. (more)

Small banks screwed by TARP — Nancy Pelosi is going to claw out Robert Gibbs’ eyes — Scott Brown is such a tease — How can the FCC make sure that America is pure if it cannot control curse words? — Slap fight breaks out between NAACP, Tea Party — Deficit report: We are slightly less broke than last year, still broke though  (more)

The Treasury special inspector general responsible for the Troubled Asset Relief Program got it right in his report saying that the termination of Chrysler and General Motors auto dealerships may have ended up costing more jobs than necessary, the National Automobile Dealers Association said Monday. (more)

The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) places more burdens on small banks than on big ones, exacerbating the difference between financial institutions that are too big to fail and the rest, Congressional Oversight Panel Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren told CNBC Wednesday. (more)

As politicians continue to debate how to cure our ailing economy, the American people have already made one diagnosis: more government spending is not the antidote to our economic malaise. (more)

For the last few weeks a House-Senate conference committee has been at work trying to craft a final version of a financial regulation package.  One amendment offered within that committee encapsulated the entire debate on regulatory reform, pitting institutionalized bailouts against depoliticized taxpayer protections. (more)

Over the past couple of years, Washington has thrown out bailout after bailout at the national economy. Following this harrowing trend, the Democrat Majority is expected to bring yet another bailout bill to the House floor this week.  This time up, the bailout is for state governments and will cost billions in taxpayer dollars. What is worse, the Democrat Majority is once again attaching its latest bailout to a troop-funding bill. (more)

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) has served six terms during two stints in Congress. When South Carolina Republicans held their runoff Tuesday, he managed to win just 29 percent of the vote. (more)

The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said on Tuesday that taxpayers were recovering their investment from the financial bailouts as the program is wound down. But he acknowledged there would probably be a loss from the rescue of the insurer, American International Group. (more)

Will AIG pay back its bailout? It depends on whom you listen to. During Wednesday’s hearing at the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the government folks and AIG’s chief executive spent most of their time discussing why the AIG bailout was warranted and how things are getting better. They suggested that AIG may be able to pay off some debts, thanks to the sale of two foreign life insurance subsidiaries, by the end of the year. The managing director of insurance ratings at Standard & Poor’s suggested that the agency may lower the already-low rating of AIG if its operating performance does not improve. The managing director of property and casualty insurance research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods noted that the company recently downgraded common shares of AIG to underperform and established a price target of $6 — despite yesterday’s closing market price of $34 for AIG. If that weren’t bad enough, 20 percent of Prudential UK shareholders announced that they plan to vote against the $35.5 billion takeover of AIG’s life insurance subsidiary. (more)