Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid

Here's the problem: the banks have already gotten a bailout, called the TARP. They're going to get another one, shortly. Now AIG has given the banks another bailout of their own, using the money meant to supplant the insurance sector.

Why did AIG do this? Because AIG was the insurer for the banks. The banks had policies covering them against losses in bad loans and such that they would make. Therefore, AIG had to pay the banks' policy claims.

Sound like double-dipping? it is. The question now: why is the government bailing out the banks? The answer: because those in government are so out of touch and incompetent, they didn't know this. Did the banks lie? Well, they didn't tell the whole truth, that's for sure. Will they be penalized criminally? Don't be silly.


Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid - WSJ.com:

"The beneficiaries of the government's bailout of American International Group Inc. include at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions that have been paid roughly $50 billion since the Federal Reserve first extended aid to the insurance giant.

Among those institutions are Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Germany's Deutsche Bank AG, each of which received roughly $6 billion in payments between mid-September and December 2008, according to a confidential document and people familiar with the matter.

Other banks that received large payouts from AIG late last year include Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America Corp., and French ..."