Bank of America Getting More TARP Funding...

   which comes as no surprise to anyone. The amazing thing about this is that BofA is requesting the extra money in order to finish buying up Merrill Lynch! BofA has already received some $25 billion from the government and they now say that they need the money now because Merrill Lynch's losses were greater than was expected in the last quarter of 2008. BofA is asking for $15 billion more from the Treasury Department.                   Source

"The government has got itself in a position where they have to do something, and they have to help close this deal, so they have to provide additional subsidy to Bank of America," said Simon Johnson, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund and a professor of entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.

  I have a better idea. Let the merger go bust and then let BofA fail.  They can then go into bankruptcy and come out as a smaller entity which will not be to big to not let fail.

    BofA is due to release it's 4th quarter earnings on Tuesday, which will no doubt be in the near negative column. So the government gives them the extra money to buy Merrill with and we then have a bigger bank that'll certainly be asking for even more cash to stay afloat in the future? WTF?

Technorati Tags: Bank of America,TARP,Merrill Lynch,Bailouts,Wall Street,Finance,Treasury Department

From Bush To President Obama: The change Of Power

   So, what is the process when moving from one President to the next one? Actually, it's pretty damned interesting when you follow the goings-on and the steps involved.

   ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton brings you up to date on what will be happening between now and " Obama Tuesday."

President and Mrs. Bush fly to Camp David Friday afternoon for a final weekend in the rustic seclusion of "the Camp." Over the next 36 hours, White House staffers will go through the behind-the-scenes business of turning in their hard passes, coded lapel pins, "flip-top" fancy White House IDs in leather folders, blackberries, cellphones, and security clearances.

At 9:00 p.m. Friday, the highest-level staffers will turn in their gear; and the West Wing will become a ghost town.

Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, Counselor Ed Gillespie, and Press Secy Dana Perino are the senior staffers who will remain here, on standby. Monday is a federal holiday so the White House would be closed anyway. On Tuesday, Special Agent Donald White of the U.S. Secret Service will shadow President Bush, sit in the customary front "shotgun" seat of the limousine, and guard the President until noon. At 12:01, Agent White steps over to a position behind Barack Obama.

President and Mrs. Bush will helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base after the swearing-in (they do not remain on Capitol Hill for the luncheon); the Cheneys drive to Andrews.  At 1:20 pm, the former President will speak (no cameras) to hundreds of loyal friends invited to come out to a hangar at Andrews for the send-off.  A handful of these friends have been invited to fly on what can can no longer be called Air Force One (it's only Air Force One when it ferries the President) to Midland, Texas.

Here at the White House, Laura Bush has already packed up her books and dispatched them to Texas.  An aide says the only personal piece of furniture departing is a chest of drawers belonging to President Bush's grandmother.

Around 10:30 am Tuesday, moving trucks will be waiting to enter the south drive of the White House, bringing the Obama family's belongings. And a new era.

  So will end the Bush Crime Family reign of terror, and thus will begin the Obama Presidency. Hopefully, the investigation's of the Bush Crime Family will follow shortly after.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama,President,Secret Service,George Bush,Josh Bolton,Dana Perino,Donald White,Inauguration,Politics,Government