Bailout

Opinion mongers are supposed to use this week to either look back at what they found important or intriguing in the expiring year or prognosticate about what they anticipate in the new one. This comes in handy during holiday weeks, since the kind of news we're usually blathering about becomes sparse. I have to do more talking on the radio show than is usually the case. Hold the sympathy. We did have the fierce winter storm that swept up the East Coast last weekend and caused havoc in Philly and even bigger problems in the Big Apple.

On Saturday, I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, an event that might more accurately have been called The Rally For Ironic, College-Educated, Eastern Seaboard Liberals With Blocky Glasses Who Pay Their Taxes Mostly Without Complaint and Want Only to Enjoy Funny Skits and Good Music. An estimated quarter of a million people flocked to the National Mall to see co-hosts Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report," plus a variety of special guests, entertain the crowd and live television audience for two hours.

Five Maryland-based banks that received bailout money missed dividend payments to the federal government in August, according to data compiled by SNL Financial. They were among 115 banks and thrifts across the country that did not make the August payments, said SNL Financial in a report released Friday. In Maryland, Patapsco Bancorp in Dundalk; Rising Sun Bancorp in Cecil County; Cecil Bancorp in Elkton; Harbor Bankshares in Baltimore, and Maryland Financial Bank in Towson deferred the most recent quarterly payments.

Media scolds on the left tell us we must behave and not show anger at what our politicians and those they serve have done to us. They rant that tea partiers are nascent Nazis, racist thugs disguised as middle-class Americans. We mustn't use words that promote anti-government sentiments. It's too dangerous. Instead, we must restrain ourselves and make believe that all is well, that the economy is beginning to rebound and that soon we'll be able to live like we used to — spending ever more money we don't have on acquiring ever more things we don't really need.

The Treasury Department says automaker General Motors Co. and insurer Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. have repaid billions of bailout dollars. Treasury says GM repaid $1 billion of $6.7 billion in loans it received as part of a $50 billion rescue. Hartford repaid its entire $3.4 billion bailout. The money came from a $700 billion bailout that Congress passed in October 2008 amid the worst financial crisis in generations. The payments mean Treasury has been repaid $181 billion of the money it disbursed.

- Greece won a major pledge of financial support from the other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund in a deal that aims to halt a government debt crisis undermining confidence in Europe's currency union. The joint eurozone and IMF bailout program comes with strict conditions and makes no money available right now. It could be tapped only if Greece or other financially troubled eurozone members cannot raise funds from financial markets. It would require the unanimous agreement of the 16 eurozone countries to release the loan funds.

WASHINGTON - Facing sharp questions from bailout overseers, Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit said Thursday the bank is "fundamentally different" from the tangled behemoth that took more than $45 billion in government aid during the recent financial crisis. "I am pleased to say we are in a far different and much healthier position," Pandit said in testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel. The independent watchdog oversees the $700 billion financial bailout. Pandit said Citi's experience during the crisis showed the need for a clearer process to deal with large, failing financial firms.

Last spring, the city bought the Senator Theater for around $800,000. As a Baltimore taxpayer trying to survive the recession, I believe the Senator should be sold to Buzz Cusack, the owner of the Charles Theatre ("WTMD bid to take over Senator draws concerns," Jan. 29). Thus the taxpayers will get back their investment. Obviously, Tom Keifaber, the failed owner of the Senator, doesn't want his successful rival to own the theater. Plus, it is important to ask if Mr. Keifaber has an agenda.

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc. became the latest bank to take a cautious view of consumers' credit problems, reporting a $7.77 billion fourth-quarter loss due to failed loans and the costs of repaying $20 billion in government bailout money. Tuesday's earnings report met analysts' expectations. - Associated Press

In my job I get books sent to me by publishers and authors looking for publicity. I read some of them, skim through others and often talk with the authors on my show. About this time every year, there are requests from listeners who want to know what books I would consider worthy of reading. Liberals won't be thrilled with some of my recommendations, but then I wouldn't much cotton to theirs, either. Here are my 2009 book recommendations: "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt.