Originally posted by Achtius
Afterthought: Oh and how has the goverment taken over all these industries, it is my understanding that the government has to sell back it's shares in companies it effectively owns, and that TARP money can be repaid as soon as a bank is profitable and able to demonstrate an ability to conduct business responsibly.
Yeah. You give a company some money and say "Oh, and you should be repaying this as soon as you can". Reckon it's going to be paid back any time soon? I don't.

Unless there's something in the contract that requires it to be paid back across so-many years, or something, it won't be. If it's just "when the bank becomes profitable", then it's open to abuses involving the definition of profit and still won't be paid back in the near future. And quite possibly the money won't _ever_ be paid back. Definitely won't be if the banks don't get chased for it - who ever heard of a bank voluntarily giving up money?