The $850 Billion 'dribble'

By Randall Hoven

We ain't seen nothing yet, apparently. According to the Financial Times,

"The Obama administration is gearing up for a ‘big bang' announcement next week that will combine a bank clean-up with measures to reduce home foreclosures and probably steps to kick-start credit markets."

It will overhaul TARP, restrict compensation at companies that receive public aid and do something to limit or restrict foreclosures. (Are paved streets to your front door considered "public aid"?) It might also include a "bad bank," whatever that is. I guess if we put all the "toxic" assets in one box, they won't smell so bad.

The big boss, George Soros, called for "radical" action. And the Obama administration appears ready to respond. An $850B TARP, an $825B stimulus, a few more hundred billion bailing out Fannie, Freddie, AIG and others - not enough! "Give me radical!" shouts the director.

But here is the part that got me:

"The "big bang" approach reflects the belief of Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, and Lawrence Summers, National Economic Council director, that the Bush administration was wrong to dribble out policy initiatives."

Eight hundred and fifty billion dollars in one fell swoop is a dribble? What I would normally consider a "dribble" would be the way Tim Geithner paid back the IRS.

And what's up with "b"-words? Bubbles bursting, bailout, big bang, bad bank? Even "dribble" has a couple of b's in the middle. Maybe the headline should be:

Obama's Big Bad Bank Bailout Bang Bursts Bush's Dribble Bubble

Say that one trillion times really fast. (It would take thousands of centuries to do that, but you'll still finish before our debt gets paid off.)