As expected, the Treasury Department this morning said it has approved ten of the nation’s largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money. They haven’t said which banks yet, but it’s a good bet that eager beavers JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs’s Lloyd Blankfein have been parked in lawn chairs outside the Treasury with checks in their sweaty palms since before dawn. So: Does this mean the money will go back to paying down the deficit, perhaps, or easing our tax burden? Alas, says the Journal: “The Treasury doesn’t believe things have improved enough that the money won’t be needed elsewhere. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said he plans to reuse returned TARP funds to assist other firms, including smaller banks, including those that have already received an initial TARP infusion.” Sigh.
