Republicans Block Small Business Jobs Bill

[LambHair McNeil]

Well then, you don't have much of an understanding of what actually happened...

The banks took the bailout money because they were insolvent. As in bankrupt. Nobody 'forced' them to do anything. If they hadn't been bailed out, then they would have been taken over or liquidated. But much more important than the sum of money the govt directly invested in these failed banks, was the reality that these banks now had the US treasury as a backstop. Instead of being poison to investors, inevitably these banks all became havens.

The government didn't "take them over", the government saved them from no longer existing. Frankly, if the government hadn't 'bailed them out', it's a certainty that a few of them would have been liquidated, creating a cascade effect through the economy that would have cost millions more jobs than we wound up losing.

And you don't have much understanding of other people's posts and what they specifically mean, but please don't let THAT stop you...

From the link: The Inspector General for the TARP program revealed that GW Bush Treasury Sec Paulson + federal regulators forced the nation's nine largest financial institutions to take billions in TP bailout bucks in Oct 2008 with the threat that if the banks said "no", the government would seize their stock shares anyway.

Eric made a point about the govt being little more than a minority shareholder. My counter was that benevolent salvation doesn't usually come with the sentiment "do it, or else...". That's all.

And I guess you missed the next part of my post, where I said the following: "the big, headling-grabbing claim that TARP "saved" the banking system is one you can make, depending on what you mean by saved."

TARP might have been a necessary evil. Still, if you're going to point out what you feel to be the good, I see nothing wrong with pointing out the bad that goes with it. Besides, any legislation that rises to the level of debate in this room comes with plenty of both to discuss.