From July 24, 1990. A Bailout Blast from the Past.....

[Solly Mack]

The S & L Horror Show: Act II


"As an outraged public reviews the first act of the savings and loan disaster - a horror show of swindling, administrative delusions and Congressional and regulatory bungling - the curtain is rising on yet another gruesome sight: the execution of the bailout itself.

A year of delay and inattention has taken a heavy toll. Several voices are calling out orders but no single hand is on the steering wheel. No one can guess the ultimate price tag for this confusion, but the $40 billion to $80 billion of new money that, last month, Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady said he needed is only a down payment.

It is no exaggeration to say that the dollar costs of the bailout are rising by the minute. This is an emergency. While it is a cliche that there is enough blame to go around for the savings and loan ripoff, there are some things that, at this point, only the President can do. How can the damage be contained? Put the bailout on budget - now. When the cost of the bailout was placed off-budget, the American people lost. Interest payments on this money are going to cost taxpayers at least $300 billion over the next 40 years.

Almost more disheartening, putting the cleanup off-budget whetted the ambition of many Administration officials to sweep the thrift crisis under the rug. Some now want ''continuous authorization'' of bailout funds - a fine print way of guaranteeing that politicians will never again have to ask, publicly, for new money to cover mounting costs."

[Solly Mack]

1. ....

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[TWiley]

2. Why no mention of George Bush's brother?

His brother, was at the center of the whole messy S&L affair. If I remember correctly, he was responsible for about 40 billion in "losses".

It is amnesty prior to the election. Most presidents forgive convicted criminals; this one is forgiving debt. Oh, butt you better pay your taxes on time or else !

[Solly Mack]

3. That particular old article was dealing with bailout part

There are other old articles that name Neil

[Solly Mack]

4. From March 31, 1991

The Nation; The Bailout Agency Becomes A Highly Motivated Seller

"IN its latest attempt to spur the savings and loan bailout toward a conclusion, the Government last week announced a spring and summer clearance sale -- with discounts ranging as high as 50 percent -- on items including $65 billion worth of houses and horse farms, junk bonds and delinquent loans. And instead of free balloons for the kids, the agency said it would give away 2,000 to 3,000 houses. These and a wide array of other assets had been financed by savings and loan institutions that have since collapsed, leaving the legacy of their demise in the hands of the Resolution Trust Corporation.

From the inception two years ago of the massive bailout, one of the most worrisome aspects of the plan was how to get rid of the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets the bailout agency was taking from the failed institutions. The pressure to maximize the Government's income from the sales was in potential conflict with pressure to get rid of the property in a timely fashion, which in turn was potentially in conflict with pressure to get rid of the inventory without the sort of dumping that might disrupt the market place.

As a result, the asset disposal program has proceeded in a sort of herky-jerky fashion that has pleased almost no one, and as of January it had succeeded in getting rid of less than half of the nearly $300 billion in assets the Government has taken so far.

The summer sale and other aspects of the trust corporation's six-month plan clearly were prompted by criticism from lawmakers and industry representatives that it has evolved into a behemoth incapable of efficiently disposing of its ever-growing inventory. "