Was the $700 billion dollars a loan or a gift??

[kentuck]

Or what was it? We know that Paulson and Bernanke told the Congress that our entire banking system could collapse if they didn't get the money immediately. Congress gave them the money with the understanding that it would be used to cover all the "bad assets", which was the reason the banks were in trouble. Then, less than 2 weeks later, Paulson advises the same Congress that they have spent $290 billion dollars of that money in buying up other banks and making the banks more stable, rather than buying up any of the "bad assets"?? Say what!!

But the question is: Was this money a loan or a gift? What do we get in return? Do we own $290 billion of stock in these banks?? Does anyone know the answer??

[havocmom]

1. part robbery, part snake oil con job

if the same ol management teams are at the helms of the bailed out.

[HillbillyBob]

2. Gift or loan...um seems more like extortion if you ask me

nt

[sarcasmo]

3. That money was a gift, it is long gone.

[depakid]

4. The stock is an investment

whether they turn out to be profitable investments remains to be seen.

[kentuck]

6. An investment in what ??

Do we own stocks in the banks? Or do we just get the satisfaction of knowing they can continue to screw us with 29% interest rates on their credit cards??

[depakid]

15. It's an equity stake that can be sold down the line

Would have been better if we'd acquired voting rights with our equity interests (as Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and the British have done).

[MannyGoldstein]

5. We Own Non-Voting Shares

Purchased at twice the price they should have been purchased at. Depending on how things shake out, it could end up being a loan, a gift, or some of both. Mostly a gift, is my guess.

[natrat]

7. very surreal

[BlueJac]

8. Ransom

[islandmkl]

9. guy with a gun approaches you on the street and demands your money...

is it a gift or a loan??

i do believe you have left out the third, and obvious, choice: robbery

[earth mom]

14. OT....

I just have to say what a beautiful Springer you have there! :loveya:

We had our girl 14 years and had to put her down 2 months ago. :cry:

[sendero]

10. Most of us here..

... knew this was a scam from the start. $700 billion isn't remotely enough to fix this problem, and it's really pointless for the treasury to try.

The banks that are insolvent need to just be allowed to fail, and THEN the govt can step in and do whatever has to be done to make it possible for the banks that weren't stupid enough to fall into this trap to function.

As it is, Paulson, from Goldman Sachs, is just trying to help his pals in the investment banking business, not rank and file americans.

I hope Obama's treasury man is more interested in what's best for all americans, but I'm not holding my breath.

[kentuck]

11. And my bet is ....

that they will figure out a way to get the other $350 billion before Obama is sworn into office. Wanna bet?

[earth mom]

12. Fraud, Robbery, Ransom, Blackmail-you name it.

:grr:

[indypaul]

13. The law deals harshly with man or woman.

Who steals a goose from off the common
But, lets the greater felon loose
Who steals the common from the goose.

[kentuck]

16. And something that doesn't make sense to me...

is how some folks are so opposed to the proposed $25 billion for the Big Three bailout but never raised a whisper about the $150 billion that went to AIG? Or the billions that went to Goldman Sachs or the other Big Banks? Why do you think that is?

Given that they were all responsible for the condition in which they found themselves, would AIG be more important to our overall economy than the Big Three?? Given that none of them are "deserving" of a bailout, if you had to choose between AIG and GM, which would you choose?

[ixion]

17. it was a con... a grift... a heist

at least as far as I can see.

[2Design]

18. gift - kiss it goodbye like the rest of the money wasted by bfee n/t

[Canuckistanian]

19. And now there's talk of "diverting" a part of that to the Auto companies

I thought the $700 billion was ALL for "saving the economy" - and that it was just SOME of the money needed.

You've all been scammed. There's no other explanation.

[MzYvonne]

20. Theft

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Kinda' like credit card theft on a grand scale perpetrated by the politicians.

With more to come...for our own good, donchya know?

[ben_meyers]

22. Shouldn't we be asking that of

our representatives that wrote, read, understood and then voted for and signed the piece of crap legislation on the first place? Who were those fools. If they now claim that it's not what they intended, then they deserve to be recalled and impeached. No one gets a free ride on this mess.

Of course that may be just a bit uncomfortable.