Bailout cost may total just $87 billion

[liberal N proud]

Just $87 billion!

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is telling Congress that the administration believes the final cost of the government's heavily criticized financial bailout effort could be as low as $87 billion.

Geithner made the new estimate in a letter Friday to congressional leaders that was obtained by The Associated Press.

A year ago, officials were estimating the bailout could cost as much as $500 billion.

The new estimate said the biggest losses will occur from the government's support of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That loss was put at $85 billion followed by a loss of $49 billion from providing help to homeowners facing the threat of losing their homes through foreclosures.

Geithner's letter estimated that the government would lose $48 billion through the support provided to insurance giant American International Group and another $28 billion would be lost through the billions of dollars in assistance provided to General Motors, Chrysler and their auto financing arms.

The biggest offset to those losses will be earnings of $115 billion that the administration expects the Federal Reserve to realize from the extraordinary assistance it has given to provide liquidity to the financial system.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36742144/ns/business-economy_at_a_crossroads/

Considering the fucking mess, bu$h left, this is remarkable.

[tridim]

1. LOL at the unrec'er

:rofl:

[Dappleganger]

8. There are multiple ones.

Some people just can't handle the truth.

[change_notfinetuning]

2. What's remarkable is your naivete. I guess there's no way to measure the

lost dignity of those who really have paid for the bailout, and will continue to pay for generations.

[spanone]

3. we spend that on the bu$h* wars in months

[Oregone]

4. And what did it specifically do to fix the problem

Are banks more liquid now, despite the toxic assets no one talks about anymore?

Do they merely have another $87 billion? Or did they just use this money to buy up other failed banks?

What has changed from crisis, ground-zero time?

[notesdev]

12. Execs are at least $87 billion richer

oh, by the way, the problem all the bailouts were supposed to solve is now worse than ever, but who cares about small details like that?

[RC]

5. "...low as $87 billion. " That almost covers the bonuses of those that got bailed out.

Just think of all the money we could save by putting them in prison instead of bailing them out.

[kentuck]

6. ...and 8 million unemployed...

and trillions lost in the savings on Wall Street when it crashed to 6500. Where do you add that into the equation?

[laughingliberal]

7. Huh! Nothing on the $4.6 trillion in secret loans from the Fed?

I'm guessing Timmeh is not in favor of the audit of the Fed.

[metapunditedgy]

9. I just read estimates of up to $23 Trillion yesterday.

I don't think this is an apples-to-apples comparison....

[SocialistLez]

10. Oh yes...JUST 87 billion

It could have gone towards improving infrastructure, helping more people afford higher education, clean energy....but know, let the bankers who fu**ed up our economy get $87 billion dollars to wipe their @$$ with.

[Catshrink]

14. 100,000 - 300,000 school employees are getting pink-slipped

this month, adding to the already staggering unemployment. $87 billion could do a lot in education fixing buildings and rebuilding infrastructure like installing internet, removing asbestos, rebuilding science labs, reducing class sizes, etc.

[SocialistLez]

17. It really could do a lot.

It's amazing we're spending all this money in Iraq and Afghanistan to fix up their infrastructure (which we fuc*ed up further when we bombed them) but our own country is decaying around our very own eyes.

[notesdev]

11. Is that so? Let's see the books

Oh wait, the Fed won't let us see its books, will it?

So we gotta take their word for it, hmmmmmmm.

[HughMoran]

13. Cool

I tried to rec it, but the unrec patrol that hates un-bad news already slammed this to the mat.

[Catshrink]

15. Same here

[liberal N proud]

16. This place has become truly amazing

Not in a good way either.