We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.
That is what our genius President actually said into a microphone today when he unveiled his plan to tax banks.
First of all, what does he mean by “our money?” Of course, he wants us to believe that he really means our–the common folks–money that we as good, charitable people loaned to the poor banks. But, we all know that he really means the play money that belongs to himself and Timmy “Turbo Tax.”
The problem is that all of the major banks, except Citigroup, have already paid back their TARP loans with interest. Some of them (BOA) did not want the loans, but were forced to take them anyway because…wait for it…
…they were “too big to fail.
The White House is now complaining that the banks used the loans to make obscene profits (Wasn’t that the whole point?), of which they passed on as huge bonuses to the very employees that made them the profits. Of course, in Obamaland, profit is evil, and bankers are old and evil white guys who won’t lend money to minorities because old white guys are evil, racist, and evil.
Although, the White House keeps putting pressure on banks to make more loans and take greater risk again, the idiocy that is this “tax” will only stifle the process that they proclaim will save the economy. Anyone who has ever taken a 100 level Economics class, or has owned a small business certainly knows two things: nothing is free and businesses do not pay taxes. People do. Banks will just pass on more fees to customers, making the loan process and banking in general more difficult and expensive. When this happens, the White House will say, “Well, the banks could have just taken 5% less profits, instead of passing the costs on to you little guys.”
The greatest irony of all is that the real culprits are Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, GMAC and Chrysler–all of which are either owned or operated by the government. They are the ones that actually took bailout money, but haven’t repaid it. So, the White House is essentially askng Congress to pass a bill to recoup from banks the money that the government loaned to itself.