CT Blue

A consensus appears to be emerging among the reality based that Paulson’s plan is to pay top dollar for the junk he wants to buy, since that’s the only way the “plan” to save the banks will work. If he paid what the stuff is worth, many of them would still be underwater. In other words, the government is going to invest its money in these companies to keep them afloat, but the government, or at least the Secretary of the Treasury, isn’t interested in getting any return on that investment, should the infusion of money make the banks profitable. It’s a little like buying stock in a company, except that the company gets your money, and you don’t get any stock. There is no realistic scenario, given Paulson’s intention, for the taxpayers to recover anything close to their investment.