Where did the Money Go?

I was watching a House session yesterday and of all things they were discussing a Bailout fiasco. It was about a Bailout that took place before the “Big Bailout” and probably everyone has already forgotten it.

The time was around April or May and the amount was $300 Billion and it was put in place to help 400,000 people with their mortgages. In July of 08, I sent a letter to my Newspaper entitled “The Mother of All Rip-Offs”

Here it is in its entirety:

The Mother of all rip-offs is about to be fostered on the American public. It’s the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Let me explain. I noticed a pretty young thing on CNN gushing about the bailout for Fannie and Freddie.  She pleasingly says the House just passed a bill, now going to the Senate, to authorize an expenditure of $300 Billion to rescue 400,000 homeowners. More conservative sources say it could reach $100 Billion.

Lets see …  $100 Billion divided by 400,000 Homeowners = $250,000 per rescued homeowner.  Yeah, I could stand a little saving at that rate but wait, there’s more bad news. That money is not going to Homeowners who need help, no its going to the lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who got in trouble because of their shyster loan policies. So Joe taxpayer, that would be you and me, are going to help the fat cats get fatter.  That money is going to the lenders so the stockholders of Freddie and Fannie can get their anticipated stock dividends. CEO Daniel Mudd of Fannie Mae drew $12.2 million last year while his partner in crime, Richard F. Syron of Freddie Mac, drew $19.8 million. Need help with your mortgage?

The in trouble Homeowner, one of the 400,000, is likely to get extended time to help pay their mortgage – did you notice he/she won’t get any of the $250,000 authorized for each one of the 400,000? Just send me my $250,000, my payments will be on time, then there won’t be foreclosures, F & F won’t need money, I’ll buy a Cabin Cruiser and putter up and down the Arkansas, dang, might even pay off my house.

Well it turned out to be $300 Billion after all, so I wrote another (The Big Bailout and the Usual Suspects) to point out that $300 Billion if used to bail out 400,000 people would come to $750,000 for each person bailed out. And that would be if all 400,000 were bailed. But what if less than 400,000 were bailed out? Then the cost of each person bailed out would go higher and higher. I predicted that possibly only 100,000 or so would be recipients of any of the money and that the rest of that money would just “disappear”.

Well yesterday on the House floor, it was reported that in the intervening almost one year, just 13 people have been helped by the $300 Billion. Know what the annual interest on $300 billion is? At 5% it would be 15 Billion dollars. That money was taken from you and me and someone has it. But it’s not us. We get to pay the $15 Billion to someone. We’ve already sacrificed the $300 Billion (we have to pay that too). Are you mad yet? Did you watch Bush’s farewell speech tonight? You Republicans proud of your man?

Would you please go read that paragraph again?

This is why I keep calling for the end of the Republican Party.

By the way they extended the bill. Made some changes they said. Time will tell. By this time next year why almost a hundred people might be helped. Somebody is getting a whopping help. It’s not you and me.