Secretary Geithner's Hotel Tarp-ifornia

The cause 

A big New York Times story this morning strongly suggests that Team Obama is about to up the ante in an effort to control the banking system for as long as the eye can see.White House and Treasury officials are now talking about turning government TARP loans into common stock for the 19 biggest banks. It’s clearly a backdoor path to nationalization, as Uncle Sam would be the largest shareholder in these institutions. What’s more, it’s not at all clear that the administration will even let certain banks pay down their TARP loans.This is government intervention into the private sector on a grand scale. It is financial/industrial policy. Banks will be kept on a very short leash regarding compensation, loans, credit-card issuance, mergers, acquisitions, and all the rest.Not surprisingly, stocks opened down 200 points today — with banks leading the freefall — and finished down about 300 points. 

The effects

   You can check out any time you want...but you can never leave.....