When Is a Loan Not a Loan?

Well, when it’s a grant, a payoff, or a mechanism for recycling the loan funds into political contributions. Bruce Krasting examines the activities of the Federal Financing Bank and comes up with a lot of questions that you’d think more people would be asking:

This will sound “good” to Obama’s supporters. But the questions are,

(1) who is getting rich off of this lending, and

(2) what is this going to cost the taxpayers?

The answer to #1, is that big shots are getting rich. Guys like Warren Buffett have a winning ticket. Many of the “winners” are connected back to Obama.

It all reminds me of a wisecrack of Dan Rostenkowski’s: “Never take a bribe. Just hand ’em your business card.”

Here’s how it works. So and so puts in an application for a loan. At some point there’s scuttlebutt or even a direct phone call or memo from some White House flunky (or even, just to pick a functionary at random, a White House Chief of Staff) to the effect that “So and so is a good guy”. So and so gets the loan. Coincidentally, So and so is a bundler or has made substantial political contributions in the past and, equally coincidentally, makes more political contributions. His ROI on these contributions is about 10,000%. Around here we call it “pay to play”.

Technically, it may not be corrupt but in reality it’s as corrupt as the dickens.

3 comments… add one
  • steve Link

    This mostly Post Office and Rural utilities. I dont know squat about rural utilities. They dont show up on the big donor lists. The only big names I know who seem to be involved with them are Buffett and the Kochs. They certainly have political access. Guess I would like to see this investigated so we can see who is really benefitting and why the loans are there.

    Link to more easily read chart than Krasting’s.

    http://www.treasury.gov/ffb/press_releases/2012/07-2012.shtml

    Steve

  • Drew Link

    I think you are dancing that Irish jig a bit to vigorously, Steve.

    The dates don’t synch, for one, but that’s not the real point. Whether from this entity of others, the pay to play fix is in. Do you think Dem voting public employees – the Pst Office – don’t know who is buttering their bread.

    And Solyndra alone, a venture cap deal if I’ve ever seen one, got bailed out at taxpayer expense with, ahem, “loans” so that a bundler would be covered. It’s slimy.

  • steve Link

    Drew- By Krasting’s numbers, the Post Office and rural utilities would have been the largest recipients of loans under the Bush admin. Why would Bush try to buy postal worker votes? The amount going to rural utilities is much larger. I acknowledge my ignorance in this area, but I really dont remember these showing up on big donor lists. That may be a function of my memory, but these really arent the names that come up commonly anywhere in politics. I think there is more to this story. If there is corruption, I suspect it is probably institutional and they routinely bribe whichever party is in office.

    Steve

Leave a Comment