How to spend $350 billion in 77 days
下面文章是在說明布希政府在77天如何花費$350 billion的情形，但是大多是用來紓困
企業，到現在為止，全球經濟狀況尚未好轉，美國也是如此，所以政府會運用財政赤字
來救國內的經濟，台灣也是如此，所以何時經濟好轉呢？拭目以待吧！
資料來源：
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/19/news/economy/tarp_tale_of_first350b/index.htm?postversion=2008121916
How to spend $350 billion in 77 days
In two-and-a-half months, the Treasury has used up half of the money from the
Troubled Asset Relief Program. Here's how it came and went so fast.
By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: December 19, 2008: 4:30 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Bush has grudgingly allowed General
Motors and Chrysler to drive away with the last few billion bucks in
Treasury's TARP till, which boasted $350 billion a mere 77 days ago.
How did it all slip away so fast?
The money pot -- intended to save the teetering financial system -- was
formally proposed in a three-page missive that Treasury sent to Congress on
the morning of Saturday, Sept. 20.
Over the course of two weeks, lawmakers debated the potential moral, ethical
and financial hazards of handing over unprecedented power and unprecedented
sums of taxpayer money to the Treasury. Their responses ranged from
gobsmacked to apoplectic.
By Friday, Oct. 3, Congress had passed a 451-page bill that President Bush
signed into law within hours. The law granted Treasury up to $700 billion,
half of which was made available right away.
Since then, Treasury has:
sent checks totaling $168 billion in varying amounts to 116 banks;
committed another $82 billion to capitalize more banks;
bought $40 billion in preferred shares of American International Group (AIG,
Fortune 500) so the troubled insurer could pay off an earlier loan from the
Federal Reserve;
committed $20 billion to back any losses that the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York might incur in a new program to lend money to owners of securities
backed by credit card debt, student loans, auto loans and small business
loans;
committed to invest $20 billion in Citigroup on top of $25 billion the bank
had already received;
committed $5 billion as a loan loss backstop to Citigroup;
agreed to loan $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler to get them through the next
few months.
That next $350B? Maybe not yet, Hank
Now, it's likely that Treasury will ask for the second tranche of $350
billion.
"It's clear Congress will need to release the remainder of the TARP to
support financial market stability," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said
Friday. "I will discuss that process with the congressional leadership and
the president-elect's transition team in the near future."
It's not clear, however, whether Paulson will formally ask Congress for the
second tranche of TARP money before turning over the keys of the Treasury to
his likely successor, Tim Geithner.
Even if Paulson wants to, however, he's likely to face an uphill battle
getting it.
"It seems very unlikely that Congress will give the final TARP installment to
the Bush administration," said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services analyst at
policy research firm Stanford Group.
That's because the apoplexy among those who originally opposed the TARP or
who voted for it reluctantly has grown and spread for several reasons.
One cause of Capitol Hill's bailout rage: the Treasury has not used TARP
money to help prevent foreclosures. Democratic lawmakers, who crafted the
legislation and purposefully included language about foreclosure prevention,
beg to differ. They have said repeatedly they will not release any more TARP
money until the Treasury commits to use some of it to help troubled
homeowners.
Second, lawmakers are not happy Treasury has given so much capital to banks
without requiring them to lend more and do more to oversee how the banks are
using the money. Paulson has said Treasury told TARP recipients that it
expects them to lend. "But it's not practical or prudent for the government
to say 'make this loan, don't make that loan,'" he said Thursday, speaking at
an event in New York.
And third, Republicans in particular resent what they see as TARP mission
creep. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, was one of many who
opposed the auto bailout, and the fact that TARP was the source of the bridge
loans in particular.
"The use of TARP funds is also regrettable, the latest in a growing list of
TARP money uses that were not discussed with or envisioned by Congress when
the program was authorized," Boehner said Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she is working on a bill to
add more guarantees that future TARP funds be used to prevent foreclosures
and protect taxpayers. But it's not clear yet how much Democratic support
that will get. And there is near total Republican opposition in the House to
approve any more TARP funding.
If that remains the case, the Obama team will have to add yet another entry
to its ever-growing to-do list when they take power on Jan. 20.
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