Henry Paulson

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Panel: Paulson Overpaid for Bank Stocks

Treasury spent $254B for a $176B value, Congress learns

(Newser) - Henry Paulson overpaid for the preferred stock he bought from banks with TARP funds, after promising Congress he wouldn’t, a congressional oversight panel says. The government handed banks $254 billion in exchange for stock that was then worth just $176 billion, the Washington Post reports. “Treasury simply did...

Pols Sending TARP Funds to Home State Banks

Frank, others pull strings for bailout funds

(Newser) - Only healthy banks are supposed to get TARP funds, and OneUnited Bank in Boston is not a healthy bank. So why did it wind up pocketing a $12 million infusion from the Treasury? Because powerful Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank interceded for it, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bankers, regulators, and...

Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public
Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public
ANALYSIS
Jan 18, 2009 7:35 AM CST

Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public

(Newser) - Banks are enjoying a public bailout of billions of dollars, but they're not using the funds the way the way they were intended—to loan money to kickstart the economy, reports the New York Times. Banks are using the bucks to pay off debts and, in some cases, acquire companies....

'Bad Bank' for Toxic Assets Among Feds' TARP Options

Paulson, Bair show support creating federally sponsored institution

(Newser) - Support is growing for the latest proposed use of bailout funds: a federally sponsored “bad bank” to purchase toxic assets from troubled financial institutions, Bloomberg reports. “A lot of work has been done on an aggregator bank,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today; FDIC chief Sheila Bair...

Report Rips TARP Strategy (or Lack Thereof)

Failure to track funds or evaluate effectiveness troubles panel

(Newser) - So much for transparency. A blistering draft report being issued by a congressional oversight panel today says Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system and failed to answer questions asked by the watchdog group, the Wall Street Journal reports. But worse still, it’s done...

Geithner Overhauls Bailout to Aid Homeowners, Small Biz

Obama team wants to cover homeowners, small business

(Newser) - The incoming Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, is conducting a top-to-bottom overhaul of the $700 billion financial rescue program passed by a skeptical Congress last fall. Geithner and other Obama advisers will expand the program to cover small businesses, municipalities, and even homeowners before asking Congress for the second tranche of...

Lawyers Are Big Winners in Bailout
Lawyers Are
Big Winners
in Bailout
Dec 29, 2008 8:00 AM CST

Lawyers Are Big Winners in Bailout

Veterans of S&L bailouts in catbird seat in current crisis

(Newser) - For a tight-knit group of former top government officials, the current financial crisis is a golden opportunity. Veterans of the savings and loan bailout of the 1990s, these operatives, now mostly lawyers and bank advisers, are doing a brisk business telling clients how to profit from the meltdown, the New ...

Spending Beyond Our Means? It's All China's Fault
Spending Beyond Our Means? It's All China's Fault
analysis
Dec 26, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Spending Beyond Our Means? It's All China's Fault

The time of the reckoning is here, NYT says

(Newser) - The financial crisis is, in part, a result of the uncomfortably tight economic embrace between the US and China, New York Times reports. China has long fostered an unsustainable credit cycle by keeping its currency artificially cheap and lending massive sums to the US. “Nobody wanted to get off...

Paulson Wants Next $350B, But Bush May Not Ask for It

Request likely to set off more hand-wringing in Congress over bailout tactics

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called today for Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion bailout fund, but his plea isn’t being echoed at the White House—which would have to make the formal request, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s not necessarily true that...

Feds Let Lehman Fail—Then Loaned It $138B Anyway

Paulson & Co. say cash was to 'facilitate orderly wind-down' of trades, but questions persist

(Newser) - After refusing to bail out Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve funneled $87 billion to a subsidiary through JPMorgan Chase on Sept. 15, then another $51 billion the next day. The feds say they aimed to “facilitate an orderly wind-down” of Lehman’s broker-dealer operations, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in...

Errors Apparent: 2008's Worst Predictions

magazine recalls year's worst punditry

(Newser) - Presidential candidate Bloomberg? Nope. Russia invading the Ukraine? Hardly. Foreign Policy takes a look back at the worst predictions of the year:
  • A stabilized banking system: Shortly after Henry Paulson forecast stability on Wall Street, Citigroup’s stock price dropped 75% and closed below $5 for the first time since
...

Bush, Obama Camps at Odds on Rescue Plans
Bush, Obama Camps at Odds on Rescue Plans
ANALYSIS
Dec 8, 2008 10:40 AM CST

Bush, Obama Camps at Odds on Rescue Plans

White House seeks input; Dem focused on stimulus over bailout

(Newser) - Growing tension between the Bush administration and its replacement is making the waters of the economic turmoil more uncertain, the Wall Street Journal reports. With the first half of the  $700 billion bailout fund nearly gone, the White House wants more input for Barack Obama on securing the next $350...

Obama, Paulson at Stalemate on Bailout Funds

(Newser) - The incoming administration and the outgoing Treasury Department are at a standoff over the second half of the $700 billion bailout, reports the Wall Street Journal. Whether Barack Obama is reluctant to overstep or wary of being associated with Bush administration policies isn't clear, but the Journal reports that unidentified...

Paulson May Hit Congress for 2nd $350B Next Week

Treasury Secretary will face a tough audience as skepticism mounts

(Newser) - Further erosion of the economy may send Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson back to Congress for the second half of the $700 billion federal bailout next week, reports the Wall Street Journal. But skepticism over how the initial $350 billion is being administered, conflicting views on how to best use the...

Private Student Loan Providers Draw Fire

Student groups oppose use of bailout funds for unregulated lenders

(Newser) - Private student lenders deserve no part of the Treasury’s $200 billion consumer lending program, student advocacy groups say. They charge that the largely unregulated industry preys on young borrowers with risky variable-interest loans, the Washington Post reports. “A bailout for the providers of usurious private student loans will...

Low Staffing Strains Feds' Rescue Plan

May have been a big reason for Paulson's TARP flip-flop

(Newser) - The government’s economic rescue plan continues to be hampered by an understaffed Treasury Department, the Wall Street Journal reports. With 40 employees, the Office of Financial Stability—which manages TARP—says it has about half the staff it needs, and banking regulators say there’s a big backlog of...

Fed Launches $800B Programs to Unlock Lending
Fed Launches $800B Programs to Unlock Lending
UPDATED
Nov 25, 2008 7:35 AM CST

Fed Launches $800B Programs to Unlock Lending

Will lend to investors buying credit-backed securities

(Newser) - The Fed today unveiled a new $200 billion lending facility designed to thaw the freeze in consumer credit, the Wall Street Journal reports. The facility will lend to investors who want to buy securities backed by credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and loans to small businesses. The Fed also...

Bailout Gives Barney Frank Star Turn
 Bailout Gives 
 Barney Frank 
 Star Turn 
Analysis
Nov 24, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Bailout Gives Barney Frank Star Turn

Expertise makes feisty Mass. Congressman key to handling financial crisis

(Newser) - Through decades in Washington, Barney Frank has developed a reputation as a brainy, if less than polite, liberal attack dog. It’s been a bumpy ride for the House Financial Services chairman, including implication in a male-prostitution scandal, writes Michelle Cottle in the New Republic—but as Congress grapples with...

Obama Stimulus Plan Balloons to $500B
Obama Stimulus Plan Balloons
to $500B
Nov 24, 2008 10:50 AM CST

Obama Stimulus Plan Balloons to $500B

Paulson, too, mulls more aggressive action, tapping bailout funds

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s financial team is constructing a $500 billion stimulus plan that it hopes to rush through Congress early in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama would sign the bill, which is far more ambitious than anything discussed during the campaign, almost immediately after his inauguration. “This...

Dow Plummets 400+ Again
 Dow Plummets 400+ Again 
MARKETS
Nov 20, 2008 3:32 PM CST

Dow Plummets 400+ Again

Hopes dim for auto industry bailout

(Newser) - Stocks continued yesterday’s slide today as Congress dashed hopes for quick aid to the Detroit automakers, MarketWatch reports. Henry Paulson also undermined investor confidence by again changing the terms of TARP. The Dow fell 444.99 points to close at 7,552.29. The Nasdaq shed 70.30, closing...

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