After we endured over a week of hearings and squabbling over the $25 Billion loan to help keep the Big 3, now comes the news that the government has agreed to absorb… not loan, not provide against actual real assets, but to absorb $247.5 Billion in losses from CitiGroup.

Back in May Henry Paulson informed us that “the worst of the financial” crisis was over. Then with the bailout package Paulson changed horses midstream, by changing policy on bailout from buying “toxic” mortgage assets, to buying stock. Then of course only last week he said the markets were stabilizing that that he was unlikely to tap the remainder of the bailout funds. Is it any wonder Forbes has called Paulson the worst Treasury Secretary in modern times?

Now, I have actually supported most of the bailout realizing that doing nothing was far worse an option. But even I am now getting frustrated with this. I mean, even as the crisis was starting well over a year ago, somehow Citigroup saw “no red flags” and continued down this path.

Say what you want about automakers, they have attempted to adjust (albeit a bit late) to the market. Citigroup essentially doubled down on their toxic mortgage bets and made a bad situation worse. So why do they get to just offload their mistakes on the American people? I have heard what I thought were just sour grapes comments about Paulson and giving money to his financial “buddies” only. It is starting to sound just a little less like sour grapes than it did before.

Filed under: Bush, Failures