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New Tally Focuses on Expansive Role of Federal Reserve in Wall Street Bailout
CMD Releases Comprehensive Bailout Tally, $4.6 Trillion Spent on the Bailout to Date
Tally Shows That the Federal Reserve Is The Real Source of Bailout Funds
Today, the Real Economy Project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released an assessment of the total cost to taxpayers of the Wall Street bailout. CMD concludes that multiple federal agencies have disbursed $4.6 trillion dollars in supporting the financial sector since the meltdown in 2007-2008. Of that, $2 trillion is still outstanding.
CMD's assessment demonstrates that while the press has focused its
attention on the $700 billion TARP bill passed by Congress, the Federal
Reserve has provided by far the bulk of the funding for the bailout in
the form of loans amounting to $3.8 trillion.
Little information has been disclosed about what collateral taxpayers have received in return for these loans, sparking the Bloomberg News lawsuit covered earlier. CMD also concludes that the bailout is far from over as the government has active programs authorized to cost up to $2.9 trillion and still has $2 trillion in outstanding investments and loans.
Learn more about the 35 programs included in the CMD tally by visiting our Total Wall Street Bailout Cost Table, which contains links to pages on each bailout program with details including the current balance sheet for each program.
Treasury Dept. Self-Congratulation Premature
While the Treasury Department has been patting itself on the back for recouping some of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds and allegedly making money off of its aid to Citigroup, the CMD accounting shows that TARP is only a small fraction of the federal funds that have gone out the door in support of the financial sector. Far more has been done to aid Wall Street through the back door of the Federal Reserve than through the front door of Congressional appropriations.
The tally shows that more scrutiny needs to be given by policymakers and the media to the role of the Federal Reserve especially as the Fed has accounted for the vast majority of the bailout funds, yet provides far less disclosure and is far less directly accountable than the Treasury.
Download the Financial Crisis Tracker
In addition to a comprehensive here Wall Street Bailout Table which will be updated monthly as a resource for press and the public, CMD is also making available a Financial Crisis Tracker, a widget that links to the table that can be downloaded to websites and provides up-to-date numbers on the financial crisis and the bailout. The Financial Crisis Tracker shows unemployment rates, housing foreclosure rates and the bailout total on a monthly basis. It is a more accurate measure of how we are doing as a nation than any Wall Street ticker.
Among the Key Findings
1) $4.6 TRILLION IN TAXPAYER FUNDS HAVE BEEN DISBURSED
Altogether, $4.6 trillion of taxpayer funds have been disbursed in the form of direct loans to Wall Street companies and banks, purchases of toxic assets, and support for the mortgage and mortgage-backed securities markets through federal housing agencies. This is an astonishing 32% of our GDP (2008) 130% of the federal budget (FY 2009).
2) TARP vs. Non-TARP FUNDING
Most accountings of the financial bailout focus on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), enacted by Congress with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. However, a complete analysis of the activities of all the agencies involved in the bailout including the FDIC, Federal Reserve and the Treasury reveals that TARP, which ended up disbursing about $410 billion was less than a tenth of the total U.S. government effort to contain the financial crisis. TARP funds only account for about 20% of the maximum commitments made through the bailout and less than 10% of the actual funds disbursed.
3) THE FEDERAL RESERVE HAS PLAYED THE PRIMARY ROLE IN THE BAILOUT
The Federal Reserve has provided by far the bulk of the funding for the bailout in the form of loans - $3.8 trillion in total. Little information has been disclosed about what collateral taxpayers have received in return for many of these loans. Bloomberg News is suing the Federal Reserve to make this information public. On March 19, 2010 Bloomberg won its suit in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, but it is not clear if this case will continue to be litigated to the Supreme Court.
4) FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR THE HOUSING MARKET IS ON THE RISE
A key component of the bailout has been the federal support for mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, primarily through the Federal Reserve. Altogether, the government has disbursed more than $1.5 trillion in non-TARP funds to directly support the mortgage and housing market since 2007.
62 Comments so far
Show All"... this debt load may cripple future attempts to form a more equitable and just society."
That's what it's designed to do. The Norquist plan is to drown the federal government in red ink until it's faced with no other choice than eliminating all entitlement programs that benefit people--including the just passed health insurance industry stimulus plan.
Change that "may" to WILL.
In addition, Obamacare is creating a parallel corporate welfare program that, in addition to handing over boatloadsof US Treasury money to corporations, dumps massive unfunded mandates on each state (keep in mind that, unlike the Feds, states need to balance their budgets and can't just borrow from Asia and print money)and forces individuals and businesses to fork over corporate welfare.
Here is another. One Billion hours ago Christ was alive
I think it is more like 18 million hours since the year 1 AD.
Joe
Making it about a billion minutes.
Good lesson. Great lesson. Teachers take note. Good math teaching can be really exciting.
Mathematical illiteracy is one of the things that allows people to be hoodwinked. Math is not about whether one can fill out a bubble sheet by dutifully following the mechanics of arithmetic, but whether math has descriptive reality for the student, reality that can be applied to the project of living. The reality actually helps the student to understand, estimate and check for reasonableness when performing the mechanics. Scale is a terrific topic whether it has to do with money, population, plastics, energy, growth.
This article just cries out for follow-up. Like designing a fair tax system as knowyourbrain has attempted, or figuring out how much each of us contributed to the banks and how long it will take to liquidate the debt. Or figuring out how many homes or teachers' salaries could have been purchased.
Joe
"how long it will take to liquidate the debt"
Debt will never be liquidated since the banks create money out of thin air with interest. When the principal is repaid the money is consequently destroyed but the interest remains as debt in the monetary system. This debt grows exponentially and overwhelms the amount of money. It's just a feature of our current money system.
Well I suppose this is a lesson for some advanced economics course, since that's where you learn to accept things that make no sense. :)
Joe
here's another:
a stack of 3 trillion US one-dollar bills would reach the moon. no need for rockets, just climb on up.
Not difficult at all. This is the biggest heist in human history, aided and abetted by our own government.
Simply put, these people are Thieves.
If either of your two US Senators voted to reconfirm Fed Chief Ben Bernanke earlier this year and you vote to re-elect them, you are condoning and contributing to this multi-trillion dollar immoral corporate welfare scheme.
YES, liars, killers and thieves
In fact, the public has virtually NO KNOWLEDGE of the bailout of the financial sector by the Federal Reserve. If they really knew and understood, the voters would be much, much, much more angry with both the banksters and the Federal Reserve.
But Congress and Obama and especially the Republican Party are literally OWNED by Wall Street and the bankers and nothing will be done.
There will be NO SIGNIFICANT control of the financial sector because the Republicans will fight it every step of the way and the Democrats will not be much better.
BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE NEXT CRASH! IT WILL BE MUCH WORSE. WHEN IT'S OVER WE WILL HAVE A THOROUGHGOING OLIGARCHICAL FASCIST STATE. I fear for my grandchildren.
Jim Shea
It's becoming increasingly transparent that the massive military buildup is not soley for empire abroad but to control the uprising here (but it can't happen here!) when the full extent of the heist materializes.
Got it covered already, Glacier Worm.
In 2008 a battalion was dedicated to permanent homeland duty for the first time in history.
NORTHCOM is a lot bigger than one battalion, although I don't know the actual size. A "command" is a complete army, really. Check it out. It is BIG.
http://www.northcom.mil/about/index.html
Wow. Nicely detailed. Copied, pasted and printed for future reference. Thanks!
Don't forget the paladins, the hired guns, the private enterprise mercenaries.
"Sad that so many of the American people call Obama a socialist as he orchestrated this looting by private business of public funds."
Get with the programme. It's socialism for the capitaists.
Whenever anybody calls Obama and the other Dems socialists...it provides an excuse for them to become more Republican and collect more corporate money, claiming that they will never win unless they move further to the right.
Whether its money, foreclosures, bank closings, body counts or votes. Numbers don't matter anymore. They just don't.
Health care blah blah blah Drilling blah blah blah Student loans blah blah blah
It's all a distraction so very rich people can steal all of our money. These guys are bankrupting our great grandchildren. And it's ongoing! They make the military-industrialites look like petty crooks.
Imagine the banks lobbying on behalf of The Fed, their regulator! How can this be? Is it possible that they are all in bed together? Articles on CD have documented the revolving door between Wall Street and our government. Adding another toothless bureaucracy to the Fed will do exactly nothing to help.
If the banksters can rip off another ten trillion, does anyone doubt they will do it? They have to do it for their stockholders!
People are divided on healthcare, war, and domestic spending for whatever reasons. However, almost to a person people are pissed off about the bank bailouts.
If I was running for the Senate and the person I was running against voted for the bailouts and to reconfirm Bernanke, I would run a single issue campaign. "My opponent gave all your money to rich people so there is no money to do anything else whether you support it or not. They robbed you, your children, and your grandchildren. Then he/she put the same robber barons back in charge." I'd put a note on my mirror "The banksters Stupid."
I'd also run on ending all loopholes in the tax system, which are designed by and large for rich people. Instead I'd propose a graduated flat tax:
....80%.|............/
.tax......|.........../
.rate.....|........../
....50%.|........./
....40%.|......../
............|....../
............|...../
....10%.|__/__________
............10 100 1000
...........income (1000's of $)
First $10,000 or so would be tax free. After that 10% increasing up to 80% over a million. And no loopholes: not for breeding, not for capital exploitation (also called capital gains), not for anything. Low and lower middle bracket taxes would go down, upper middle incomers' taxes would not change, and we'd have more money than we know what to do with. Do your taxes on a postcard. Retrain accountants to weatherize homes. End regressive sales taxes. Maybe replace them with a small financial transaction tax.
Maybe we need an old-fashioned Bastille Day. Do you have more than a million dollars? Okay, just lay your head on this bag of money. THWACK.
Ohhh, Ahh, a graduated flat tax with no loopholes. A soothing dream.
That banshee wail you just heard came from every corporate and libertarian think tank in the country.
Everybody on Wall Street, The Fed, The Politicians that are in Bed with them and especially the so-called reporters on the cable Wall Street shows, especially them, need to be arrested, jailed, tried and after convicted hung by the neck until dead, dead, dead. They all are nothing but con men and women. If the so called tea baggers should be upset about something let them go after the real criminals in the banking system,
Well isn't that a shame? It's one thing when people say that we shouldn't wait for Obama to give states decent funding to keep the good public services going while they turn the other way when Obama and the rest of the crooks in Congress pour our money into Wall Street's coffers. Taking $460 billion off that bailout could go towards funding for public services which states could not otherwise raise money for. But the Libertarian dogma would dictate that government should fund Wall Street's coffers rather than the metro rails. No where do those pirates get their cash from? Uh oh, social security could be the next target !
$4.6 Trillion dollars to the bankers in less than a year. But ONE Trillion over TEN years is said by some to be unaffordable. Of course Medicare For All would cost considerably less than that. $25 Billion a year, or one quarter of a billion over ten years, would be saved by standardized paperwork alone. But I do understand how a handful of bankers are really more important and more deserving than poor peasants without health care.
"$4.6 Trillion dollars to the bankers in less than a year."
They need the money. The truth is that practically all the banks are insolvent (bankrupt) from overleverage and bad (toxic) assets on their books. The entire US financial system came within hours of total collapse on September 18, 2008.
It seems that we are close to the end of fractional reserve banking and the issuance of money as debt since the system has become so bloated with debt that it is increasingly unstable and unsustainable.
Secret meetings of central bankers have been held in Australia and while their discussions are secret it seems likely that they must have considered intoducing some kind of global debt currency.
We are rapidly approaching a pivotal point in history. There is no reason for private banks to issue money as debt when it can be issued by sovereign entities as wealth backed by the infrastructure the money was use to create. Given that many US states are approaching bankruptcy they could produce sovereign money to pay their bills provided this sovereign money was acceptable as payment for state taxes. Only by agitating for a reform of the monetary system will the people be able to crawl out from under the debt slavery imposed by the bankers. It will not be easy, many believe Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated for their efforts in introducing sovereign money. The people need to know. Contact your state representative to introduce an act like the Minnesota Transportation Act and learn about these issues at:
http://www.wealthmoney.org/
"There is no reason for private banks to issue money as debt when it can be issued by sovereign entities as wealth backed by the infrastructure the money was use to create."
I have been saying exactly the same thing now for years. But we have to be careful what we allow the government to spend those sovereign funds for. Certainly not for more weapons and war because they only destroy, leaving nothing to back the paper money used to produce them. Those funds need to be spent for real, lasting infrastructure.
Good post, knowyourbrain.
"Do your taxes on a postcard." Funny, today I'm supposed to start doing my taxes, an onerous task at best that pisses me off every year.
The proposed financial transaction tax is also a good idea as it would raise revenues and slow down speculation.
As for the graduated flat tax, while interesting in theory, it will never happen because then the tax code could not be used for social and economic "programming," thus reducing politician leverage to raise their bribe money.
-30-
a trillion dollars is only worth what humans say it is worth...
we can stop this charade at any time...why?
because the planet provides life's necessities for free...there are no pricetags...
they only cost us money because some humans are charging other humans...
they are able to do this by denying these things to others unless those others pay...
it could all stop, if we say so...if we stop it...
Global Start Date: September 22, 2012...
Hey dubet, I agree, money is arbitrary relative to your mindset.
Thought you might like checking this guy out.
http://www.ranprieur.com/
cool link...thanks, brother buck
How does this amount compare to the vast sums of money that the wise and benevolent Democrats must have advocated on behalf of the poor and working class in this country? Surely this important story must have slipped through the cracks of the mainstream media.
Wall Street Rules! and I got those Wall Street blues...
Fixing Wall street will be a steep uphill climb.
Obama's single biggest contributor to his campaign was Goldman-Sachs--sometimes called Government-Sachs for its ability to run our country. Potential saviors like Barney Frank and Sen. Dodd also receive piles of money from the banks.
More woe--Geithner and Bernanke represent the banking industry. The problem with Wall Street is an intrinsic one--what's good for them is bad for the rest of us. To wit: the banks make gobs of money quickly through investing in speculative activities--oil prices, housing market prices (ups and down), Greece, etc. This is the leading/bleeding edge in banking circles. Lending to businesses is so yesterday; derivatives and credit default swaps so today.
Regulations of any sort will rain on Wall Street’s parade--whether it be transparency in derivatives sales, stopping the ratings fraudulence in securitization, lowering bank leverage or stopping banks from trading/gambling with taxpayer money.
So Obama, Geithner and Bernanke and Dodd and Frank et. al. will go through the motions of banking reform but at the end of the day will have the same old financial system--that is to say, primed for disaster. (Something tells me that the bankers see this as a thrilling rush....) I’d say that after the next disaster we will be quite ready to dump Wall Street.
'Potential saviors like Barney Frank and Sen. Dodd also receive piles of money from the banks.'
No kidding! I'm as repulsed, disgusted, and furious at these people as anyone, but when you make it sound like ONLY democrats are feeding at the trough, and use the fabled Dodd/Frank duo--names that foxcasters are contracted to invoke every five minutes or so--my radar goes off. And Geither and Bernanke--they've been around for a long time, helping dems and republicans alike.
As well, you're cute little ditty to start reminds me of all the wannabe novelists in the propaganda class. Easy breezy words, no matter the topic.
While I despise the corportist democrats along with the republicans, I despise the propagandists much, much more since they make it all happen. Surely you can see my concern.
Don't pay taxes.
Why pay taxes when the $$ is simply printed out of thin air anyway?
Seriously.
Stop sending Tribute to the new Caesar.
This is the first step towards regaining the moral high ground. It should be a matter of conscience. Refuse financial support to the killers.
Suggested reading: Thoreau
Civil Disobedience
Life without Principal
A Plea for John Brown
Slavery in Massachusetts
Good grief, Charlie Brown! $4.6 trillion!
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in caves
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
1000 billion = 1 trillion
Nobody in the alternative media is posted at the back door?
Sublime to ridiculous: TurboTax screwed up my program with automatic updates so that it won't open my tax report which I already spent weeks on. I have to do it all over again.
Governance in this country has always been and continues to be, a criminal enterprise.
Now is there any doubt?
No doubt at all! The bailout heist is the LARGEST transfer of wealth that has ever taken place in the history of this planet!
no doubt here
Growing up I heard the dads chuckle about the petty political thieves. It was understood, but considered relatively harmless, the cost of doing business. They, the dads, had a car in the driveway, a stocked refrigerator in the kitchen and a couch and television in the living room. It all was ok as they were comfortable.
Today, the thieves are cold heartless killers reigning supreme, raining misery, death and destruction. Is there any difference in dieing from starvation or lack of medical care or from a bullet?
We work for the rich, and trickle up Economics thanks to the era of greed created by the union busting, war on drugs, employee leasing, stagnant wages, credit card loan increasing, benefits reducing ,,,,,, WALL STREET, BANKER , OIL COMPANY AND MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX PALS TO OUR ELECTED CRIMINALS.
KING OF CAPITALISM ,,, COWBOY RONALD REAGAN,
GEORGE BUSH SR. EX CIA DIRECTOR
GEORGE BUSH JR ( BIN LADEN FAMILY FRIEND ) SKULL & BONES
BILL CLINTON NAFTA, GAT, GLASS STEGAL SIGNER
What makes a nation rich is how well the money flows through all hands, 2% of our population has 90 % of our money.
HOW MUCH CAN THAT MONEY BE WORTH IF KNOW ONE ELSE HAS ANY MONEY TO BUY ANYTHING???
300,000,000 US citizens divided into $4,600,000,000,000=$15,333 per US citizen.
We could have helped so many people with that money. What a goddamn crime.
"300,000,000 US citizens divided into $4,600,000,000,000=$15,333 per US citizen."
Yeah, imagine if we gave that money back to the people.
for the record, the FED heist occurred before obama took office. whether he would agree with saving capitalism or not, the Fed is autonomous. and, of course his cast of characters consists of the heisters. "the government" is all citizens have to join together to oppose powerful exploiters. too bad most citizens have allowed themselves to be indoctrinated with a capitalist mentality, that they don't understand the contradiction between capitalism and democracy.
dwyerj1 writes:
"Sublime to ridiculous: TurboTax screwed up my program with automatic updates so that it won't open my tax report which I already spent weeks on. I have to do it all over again."
There are a lot of increasingly tricky programs out there, and not just relating to taxes. Some are interacting with your system even when you are offline.
* Work offline and Save To offline. Immediately reopen the Saved file to see if it is "true." You can then back it up with a Save As command.
* Back up your work on something like a flash drive or a ZIP disk.
* Print out your work at the end of each session so if something else goes wrong, at least you've saved your earlier calculations.
Just a couple of off-the-top thoughts from an old Systems Administrator who has pretty much gotten away from computers because the Internet has gone totally commercial with a few exceptions, to the point that they can check your blood pressure from a distance!
I've seen TurboTax ads suggesting you can download a FREE version, and suggesting you upgrade. Classic bait & switch. (Don't know what version you were using.) H&R Block is probably no better.
The U.S. tax code is a racket. It is being designed so that private computer companies can make a profit from its complexity, at your expense.
I do my taxes manually, with a solar-powered calculator, and a pencil. This process forces me to do math calculations I was better at in high school!
We must pay tribute to Caesar. Avoid crucifixion!
One more small point. Many of us knew about the Fed's back-door policy, while this article goes into unusual detail, which is helpful. One could now argue that even the massive TARP bailout is a diversion from the real crimes.
Good luck, all.
-30-
H&R Block software works ok but my wife and I still play it safe by picking up a tax return form from our local library and writing it all out as much as possible on our own. We also wait until the beginning of April to do our returns. Usually, when it comes to tax software, updates are generally finished by the middle of March every year. Usually, waiting until the last minute to do something isn't always right but I will make an exception with using software to file taxes.
"they don't understand the contradiction between capitalism and democracy."
Actually, they are quite synonymous. Both allow a few to control the majority, while giving the illusion of opportunity for all.
Not exactly. In a democracy everyone has a voice. This (the u.s.) is a republic.
re·pub·lic [ri-puhb-lik] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.
2.
any body of persons viewed as a commonwealth.
3.
a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.
4.
a democracy or republic references a political system.
capitalism refers to an economic system based on accumulated wealth. wealth is accumulated by exploiting labor and/or the environment. then using those profits(more accumulated wealth) to acquire even more wealth. in our society that translates into disproportion power over other citizens. that by definition is undemocratic.
*current dictionaries just define capitalism as a free market system but have no analysis relating it to a democracy.