[Gintovtosik]

Frank is just doing to the political thing -- of course the last guy did awful and my guy will do swell. But the bailout of the banks isn't stimulative. It just ensures that we have a banking system that works. Or at least this is a down payment to making sure that the banking system works. We may need an additional bailout.

I'm afraid that the politicians have oversold the benefits of the bailout.

[Caregrasy]

True the bailout saved the banking sector from wide spread collapse but that doesn't mean it wasn't mismanaged. Clearly we should have put more rules in it, as the British did, and required voting shares not general shares in exchange for the capital injection. If for no other reason then when it comes time to sell those share voting shares are worth more so tax payers will recoup more of their money. Next tracking exactly how banks used these taxpayer funds should have happened but Paulson and Bush said that wasn't needed. Lastly we should have gotten assured dividends for our shares, as the British did, in order to make sure taxpayers got the most value out of their money and lastly it would have been smart to require banks to actually lend some of the money rather then just hold on to it or give it out as executive bonuses or use it to buy new corporate jets.

[jesyflowers]

This jet was bought long before the bailouts or collapse, not that they couldn't have canceled the order and recouped some of the money. This one jet is also supposed to replace two current older jets that are actually listed for sale right now, the total cost of which nearly covers the cost of this one.

Don't get distracted by these shiny and irrelevant propoganda stunts, it is about as stupid as the manufactured issue of the auto execs flying into Washington. There is actual mismanagement out there it just isn't as flashy or individually large and thus not of interest for politicians attempting to grandstand, but added up makes for extreme waste and inefficiency. Getting rid of that will take untold hours of humdrum accountant types pouring over mountains of mindnumbingly boring work.