There’s been a lot of talk about the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP for short) as of late. The TARP, as you may know, authorizes the Department of the Treasury to purchase (or repurchase!) up to $700 billion of so-called “Troubled Assets” in order to shore up bank and bank-like company (somehow including the auto industry) finances. The Treasury has kept the TARP in the news by deciding it is time to sell its stake in Citibank.
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As a general relief fund under the Department of the Treasury, the TARP’s funding stems from the taxes we pay as taxpayers. This doesn’t preclude it from making money on the appreciation of the assets of the company shares it owns, it merely means that the risk of depreciation of the underlying assets is borne by the ‘investors’ in the fund – ‘Joe’ Taxpayer (who picked Joe as the go-to generic name?). Luckily, this also means you can calculate your share of the pie! Fox News has created a calculator for you to enter your salary and see the approximate amount of risk you have put up for the TARP program. Being Fox, there is also a poll currently indicating 94% disapproval of the program (TARP was authorized under former President George Bush – the anger is at both parties on Fox!?).
Universally, the TARP is quite unpopular, with a Gallup poll back in January asking whether the second $350 billion in TARP funds should be released (after President Obama asked for them at the time). A whopping 62% responded that the funds shouldn’t be released unless they came with an explanation of where the funds were headed. Contrast those numbers with the 20% of people that believed the funds should, like the first release, come with no strings attached. 12% of people said ‘block the funds!’ and 5% had no opinion.
Thoughts on the TARP, bailouts, or anything of that nature?
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