How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue

How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue

Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program (TARP)

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How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue
Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program

Washington Post is Monday, June 29th, 2009: "How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue -- Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program."

General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government's key rescue programs for banks.

At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government.

The company did not initially qualify for the program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms.

But regulators soon loosened the eligibility requirements, in part because of behind-the-scenes appeals from GE.

As a result, GE has joined major banks collectively saving billions of dollars by raising money for their operations at lower interest rates. Public records show that GE Capital, the company's massive financing arm, has issued nearly a quarter of the $340 billion in debt backed by the program, which is known as the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, or TLGP. The government's actions have been "powerful and helpful" to the company, GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt acknowledged in December.

GE's finance arm is not classified as a bank. Rather, it worked its way into the rescue program by owning two relatively small Utah banking institutions, illustrating how the loopholes in the U.S. regulatory system are manifest in the government's historic intervention in the financial crisis.

Unlike other major lenders participating in the debt guarantee program, including Bank of America, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, GE has never been subject to the Fed's stress tests or its rules for limiting risk. Also unlike firms that have received bailout money in the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, GE is not subject to restrictions such as limits on executive compensation.

The debt guarantee program that GE joined is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was reluctant to take on the new mission, according to current and former officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. The FDIC also initially resisted expanding the pool of eligible companies, fearing it would add more risk to the program, the officials said.
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Rush Limbaugh

The Regime-Immelt Deal Smells

I'm sure you saw it by now -- Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric (who now they're saying is a big Republican, lifelong Republican), has been appointed to replace somebody on the Council of Economic Advisors.

Now, folks I'm gonna tell you something. This really smells. Congress needs to really look into this. We have another advisory board created by executive order to tell the government what it needs to do to help create jobs. They have a deficit-reduction board. Did you know that? How good a job has that bumbling done? Diddly-squat. A giant failure. Now we've got this, and who is it made up of? The new Congress and a lot of people saying that this really needs to be investigated. General Electric and Obama are in bed with each other. General Electric got gobs of TARP money.

They got stimulus money. They don't need it. General Electric didn't need any of that money. General Electric has been in bed with Obama on this green energy garbage. MSNBC, the NBC networks, "go green" many weeks a year with their graphics and all this other stuff -- and they've used government money to create this green energy division that they have, and they're behind these compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They run NBC and MSNBC at a steep loss in order to give Obama his own cheerleading news network, and this CEO ends up on an advisory board now.

Let me summarize this story for you: TARP was expanded by Obama for GE, which did not qualify as a bank. Remember, now, TARP was to bail out banks. TARP was expanded by Obama for GE, which didn't qualify as a bank. GE's "bank" became the top beneficiary of TARP funds. Jeffrey Immelt is involved here. The story from the Washington Post is Monday, June 29th, 2009: "How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue -- Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program."

You need any more? I'll give you more. It's astounding here. There needs to be a stop right now and an investigation of all of this. "General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government's key rescue programs for banks. At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government. The company did not initially qualify for the [TARP] program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms.

So GE -- unlike AIG and Goldman Sachs -- can bonus their execs whatever they want. They can pay their execs whatever amount they want. They were recategorized as a bank so as to get bank bailout money, and now yesterday GE's chairman ends up on a new advisory committee on jobs and the economy set up by executive order. And the Washington Post is totally unfazed as they report this. Ho-hum! It's just more Obama structural brilliance as far as they are concerned.

Now, this seems to call for an investigation. I mean, this is serious insider dealing here between this company and this president. Now, it's obvious, it's been clear to everybody, Obama has a plan in place (and, again, as I say, it's a very obvious plan) to use the bureaucracy, not legislation. Use the bureaucracy to advance the most radical agenda possible in health and environment (which is what this GE stuff is all about) while creating a PR perception in the opposite direction, that of the cool headed, moderate, open-to-ideas, civil president. It's a complete ruse. It's a complete attempt to deceive the people: Say one thing but act another way.

(Rush you have hit the nail on the head here. Obama is nothing but a PR perception dedicated to deceiving the American people.) Story Reports

Now, on the PR front, the president talks about growing jobs when he destroys them. He talks about free markets when he attacks them. He talks about civility when he refuses to denounce the haters among his friends -- and notice, too, now how he rewards huge corporations who toe the line like all the finance houses that were at the state dinner with China. He attacks corporations that actually create things or build things, like oil, steel, coal, et cetera.

But back during... I think it was 2007, 2008. Don't hold me to these dates; I gotta figure this out in just a second. During the campaign when Obama's out there ripping Walmart to shreds. His wife shows up there the other day and has somehow bullied or pressured Walmart, which already sells things for low prices, into selling healthy food at lower prices during the winter. Michelle Obama shows up and she and her husband are now partners with Walmart when in 2000 and 2008 this guy joined the unions in trying to put 'em out of business.

Moochelle Obama, the first lady, is now in charge what you eat at Walmart and what it costs! She just shows up. Last I looked, Walmart's a private sector company. First lady can go in there all she wants. She could even call a press conference. But she does so, and why do you think Walmart's listening to this? Look, don't get mad at Walmart. That's not the point here. What would you do if this bunch strolls in your front door? This bunch, this regime has a representative high up, strolls in your front door; demands a microphone, press conference; demands you lower your prices? What are you gonna do?

Most people are gonna cave. It's not worth the trouble. And this on top of this General Electric stuff. That state dinner was filled with leftist Wall Street welfare recipients. Very few people were there from real industry, which are the subject of the EPA's job killing and growth killing agenda.

The Regime-Immelt Deal Smells