First off - I think the bonuses were okay in the first place. Those were agreements in place between the company and the person.
And I know that it has been talked about how all of the TARP money has been paid back. I have read that may be true of the large banks, but the smaller banks and other firms like AIG, GM, etc. it seems not. And a lot of it is pretty confusing to me. (Like your tagline says - that’s me!) But it looks like lots of wheeling and dealings to make it look good on paper.
All I know is that with the bailouts came lots of talk on FR how these CEO’s, the banks, etc. were evil for still handing out those salaries. And I think that was an intended consequence. The other intended consequence was for the companies to have to rely on the graces of the government more.
No, not all the TARP money has been paid back. You are correct, AIG still owes. That will probably break even for the Treasury. We'll lose on GM and Chrysler and of course the mortgage modification portion of TARP will never be repaid. Don't get me started on all the losses we'll suffer because of Fannie and Freddie.
My claim was that the bank portion has been repaid at a profit. Some small banks still owe, but the profit the Treasury made on the big banks means that even if those small banks default, more total bank money came back, so far, than the total bank money lent out.
All I know is that with the bailouts came lots of talk on FR how these CEO’s, the banks, etc. were evil for still handing out those salaries.
Yup, silly populism on the right as well as the left.