Republican Wealth Redistribution

Ian Welsh, over at Firedoglake, has a rather long post that is well worth the read but these three graphs really tell you all you need to know about the Regan Revolution, Trickle Down versus Trickle Up, and why the folks who really like to redistribute the wealth are the Republicans! (Hmm, in just how many ways is 2008 a lot like 1928?)

We Are All Bankers Now!

From Bloomberg

`This is just unprecedented,'' said BMO Capital Markets analyst Peter Winter. ``What the government has said is that you can't let the financial system fail, and if this doesn't work they'll come up with another plan.''

The capital infusions come as governments worldwide do all they can to ensure the stability of banks. Kuwait's central bank said it will guarantee deposits at Gulf Bank KSC, which remains solvent after clients defaulted on currency derivatives contracts, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported. Paulson already gave $125 billion to nine of the biggest U.S. lenders."

Following are banks that have announced participation in the
Treasury program. Some company names have been shortened for
space:

FIRST ROUND
Citgroup            $25 billion
Wells Fargo         $25 billion
JPMorgan Chase      $25 billion
Bank of America     $15 billion
Merrill Lynch       $10 billion
Goldman Sachs       $10 billion
Morgan Stanley      $10 billion
Bank of New York    $3.0 billion
State Street        $2.0 billion
TOTAL               $125 billion

SECOND ROUND
PNC                 $7.7 billion
Capital One         $3.6 billion
SunTrust            $3.5 billion
Regions Financial   $3.5 billion
Fifth Third         $3.4 billion
BB&T                $3.1 billion
KeyCorp             $2.5 billion
Comerica            $2.25 billion
Northern Trust      $1.5 billion
Huntington          $1.4 billion
First Horizon       $866 million
City National       $395 million
Valley National     $330 million
Washington Federal  $230 million
UCBH Holdings       $298 million
First Niagara       $186 million
Old National        $150 million*
HF Financial        $25 million
Redding Bank        $17 million
Provident            --**
TOTAL               $34.93 billion (35.18)


*Old National hasn't decided whether to participate.
**Provident didn't say how much it expects.