[WorkerbeeCitizen]

A foreign investor bought insured AAA assets at say $100. They will now be selling them back to the US government for $30. How is that a bailout??

The taxpayer (thats us) lost $30.00 on that transaction.

[cripplecreek]

You’re supposed to be happy they aren’t stealing more of your money. LOL

[koraz]

No. The taxpayer pays $30 for a mortgage which has real estate as collateral. The loss is $30 if and only if the value of the property is $0!!

The lack of financial understanding in this country is really, really sad!!

[M203M4]

Yes, but that $30 taxpayer loss is for the Greater Good™. Plus, we all know that the government can make money on the deal, while private enterprise is wholly incapable of generating a profit under the same circumstances. What we do is take a bag full of garbage, recycle everything but the toxic waste at a profit, and shift the toxic waste to the taxpayer. Voila! As long as we only count the losses in some hidden way (for example, sweeping them under an inflationary rug), we can trumpet an overall government profit!

The theory of Free Lunch, cooked up using the magical powers of the fedgov.

[count-your-change]

Your math logic is faulty. If I sell a stock to you for $100 I first have the $100. If I buy it back for $30, which is probably its true value now, I have a $30 stock plus $70 of your money. Not too bad.