Drew Dowdell

Interesting move Mr. Whitacre.

you'd be surprised....

Oh look. Someone slapped a Buick grill on a Freelander.

Profit maximizing entities like Citigroup for example? Or perhaps one of the many companies that is expecting tax breaks for off shoring labor. This deal isn't a handout. Handout implies the government isn't getting the money back. Again, this is a loan. Since you're so worried about money being in the hands of private entities, that's exactly what the government did. It loaned money to a private entity it thought was both a good investment financially and boosted a fledgling industry it sees as a good cause. Venture capital has all but dried up.

I like this old one with the "Born from Jets" insinuation. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

so your neighbor plowed you out... did he have to come back and do it again later?

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You're right that the U.S. government would have less of a say in the operation of the banks once TARP is repayed. That's one of the reasons why the banks are rushing to do it. Some of the banks are repaying the TARP funds even though they aren't really healthy enough to do it. That's why Obama is coming out swinging. In the past 2 weeks banks have been rushing to pay back a large amount of TARP before the year's end. The banks are also trying to fight his financial reforms.

You are correct in that sir. However, look at that chart while keeping these three things in mind: 1. M3 has increased around an average of about 4% for 2009.... how many trillions did the fed print this year? If they hadn't we'd be well in the negative. As it is we're barely above water. 2. Personal savings has increased for the first time since before I was born. The amount of money in circulation right now is smaller over all because people are saving more. This can be good for the economy long term, but it'll hurt right now. 3. The reason we're just barely at 4% increase in M3 despite the Fed presses running on 11 is the massive contraction in credit. Businesses operate on credit. That credit is gone. Eventually, the fed will have to turn off the taps. That will have to be made up by the banks in terms of credit or else we fall into depression. Follow why Obama was beating on the banks this week?

Na, a good chunk of our male friends are straight.

Incorrect. Lets say you took out a home equity loan for $20,000. You spent some of that money, but the rest of it you put in a savings account thinking you'd need it later. Later comes and you realize that you're not going to need all of that money, so you take $1,000 and send it back to the bank as a payment on the home equity line. That's what GM did.

You're talking about consumer prices and not the same thing as inflation/deflation. The money supply in this country is falling even though the fed is throwing so much cash around.

Could, but most likely won't. All the consumer confidence in the world can't help if there isn't the cash to support it. A great many people are shying away from using credit cards or even mortgages or financing cars. The ones who aren't afraid of credit can't seem to get it either. These are the biggest reasons why "this time" is a lot different from the times before. Add to this that people are actually being frugal. Personal savings is up for the first time since the Ford Administration. We're still in a major deflationary spiral which would be exponentially worse if the government weren't running the printing presses at 150% capacity.

I still think the data needs to be hashed out a bit more. Employment data is notoriously.... fudged.