USG didn't take over the banks after all

ARTICLE: Wells Fargo to Repay U.S., a Coda to the Bailout Era, By ERIC DASH and ANDREW MARTIN, New York Times, December 14, 2009

Remember the good old days when the government was slated to take over the entirety of the banking sector and Wall Street? It seems like so many . . . months ago.

When Washington pressed the nation's largest banks to take billions in federal support last autumn, few protested more loudly than Wells Fargo. On Monday, Wells became the last of the big lenders to rush through a repayment before the end of the year, signifying a fitting bookend to the bailout era.

Geez! Just when we had socialism finally within our grasp!

Comments

[Aaron]

The funny thing about all that is that far from being a government takeover, it might be more aptly considered the reverse. Wall Street and the banking sector are feasting on the federal government. The Fed selling money to the likes of Goldman Sachs (now a "commercial bank") at historic low rates, enormous tax subsidies to TARP recipients like Bank of America and other such economic atrocities make the cries of socialism and government tyranny ring extremely hollow.

[Tom Barnett]

A far better critical view.