One of the reasons that starry-eyed teenyboppers tend to believe that the government can solve problems in the same way that they believe that pop idols don't lip-sync through concerts is because of the notion that government officials have to adhere to rules that have been put in place in order to ensure that any action they take benefits We The People.
Well, teenyboppers, I give you the "No, really, I mean it this time" set of rules that come with TARP:
Wait, it gets better. According to The New York Times, the Treasury Department will also give G.M., which owns 49 percent of GMAC, $1 billion in TARP funds so the carmaker can "purchase additional equity offered by GMAC." At the same time it is buying more GMAC stock, G.M. is supposed to reduce the share of the company it owns to less than 10 percent. Presumably this is possible because GMAC is issuing a lot more stock as part of its plan to convert 75 percent of its debt to equity. But that's hardly the most confusing part of the deal. GMAC, which loans money to car buyers and dealers, evidently did not count as a "financial institution" until it decided to become a bank. Yet G.M., which makes cars, somehow does.
After reading this, does anyone honestly think that the unelected officials that sit in the offices of the Treasury and the Fed aren't essentially doing whatever the hell they want with your money? Paulson could announce tomorrow that he's giving $20 billion to Betamax because "the American economy depends on the technology of the future," and Congress would only come up from under his desk long enough to give him a brief round of applause for his foresight and wisdom.
Wake me up when the people who are supposed to be speaking for The People actually start giving a rat's ass about our money.
