Finance News: TARP, Bank of America and Tax Cuts
It’s getting crazy out here in the world of finance. Chances are that what is going on right now will affect us for quite some time to come. But that isn’t going to stop our leaders from continuing its policies. No matter that they probably won’t help accomplish stated short term and long term economic objectives. At any rate, here are some of the highlights of this past week:
- Bank of America to get a bailout. Great stuff. After making poor business decisions and then lying about it, Bank of America gets a bailout, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. What I still don’t understand is why people get all bent out of shape over helping regular folks avoid foreclosure, but barely bat an eyelash at giving billions to a bank that made terrible decisions and is bringing us down with it.
- TARP funds to be released. Back when the TARP fund idea was release, only half of the money was allowed to be paid out at once. Now, though, Congress is ready to release the other half of the TARP bailout funds. This time, Congress insists that proper controls be placed on the money. I’m not very hopeful, though. We have no idea of what happened to the last $350 billion, and I don’t think that we’ll have any idea what happens to this $350 billion. For some reason, the word of Congress just isn’t something I trust.
- Economic stimulus legislation unveiled. A new economic stimulus bill has been unveiled. One that supposedly supports investment in America, will promote jobs, and help the regular folks (through local state funding and tax cuts). Again, I’m not sure what will be accomplished by this. It seems like a lot of the same stuff. But one can always hope.
What was your favorite bit of finance news this week?
