The Feds knew that Lincoln and Hartford had bought banks to qualify for TARP. The
Feds reacted by saying – Well, they played by the rules. Now we find out the money went to the insurance part of the business. Another Fed-backed scam was OK’ed. Move on – no shocker here.
What Hartford and Lincon did may have been considered dastardly years ago. Today, I am sure the CEO’s of those organizations are now enshrined as great minds on how to get “free” money and are probably envied by all other ceo’s.
The fact of the matter is that these two insurers needed money to stay afloat and continue operating without having to sell off parts of the company (or go under). Insurance companies operate differently than do banks or car manufacturers, so they spent the money the best way they saw fit to get back on their feet. Now these ‘watchdogs’ are making it sound as if they just got creative so they could scam money out of the government – that is not the case. It was borrowed with the same intent and will be paid back.
so it was like a free loan to stay afloat!? how unfair! i think this was misused money spent, and in this case for a couple of insurance companies, to purchase shares/own a bank! how uncool!! question – how can i get a free loan?
so it was like a free loan to stay afloat!? how unfair! i think this was misused money spent, and in this case for a couple of insurance companies, to purchase shares/own a bank! how uncool!! question – how can i get a free loan?
Maybe you contact AIG, Citigroup, GMAC, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citizen’s, Wells Fargo, Suntrust, Union, Chrysler, or one of the other hundreds of companies that got TARP money to answer your question.
Only one company (AIG) was considered to be systemically significant if failed. The rest were mostly small businesses or lenders that needed money to stay afloat.
When exactly did Hartford become a small business? They should have done what I would have had to do. Spin off the profitable lines, bankrupt the rest. I can’t believe there is a TARP defender here.
No one said The Hartford is a small business. Nor was I exactly defending TARP – only pointing out that insurance companies would naturally have to use their funds differently than a bank or car manufacturer.
And unless you happen to be the CEO of a major corporation, I doubt you can compare your bankruptcy to the bankruptcy of a 200-year old employer of thousands.
I lost an account the other day to a bailed out bank. Does anyone think it’s fair for Banks to receive TARP (bailout funds) and remain in competition against non-bank insurance agencies?
How come it took this nsightful watchdog group about a year to report what everybody in the insurance community knew all along?
Hartford only bought that smal bank so they could thus qualify for the tarp money…Simple.
Get ready to see your tarp money at work folks real soon… Since Harford is a huge sponser of NCAA basketball, that tarp money will go to good use buying TV time on CBS pretty soon…..
Did anyone expect that Hartford would take the TARP money from their “phony” little bank purchase and start handing out loans to average tax payers for home, auto purchases etc? Perhaps if Hartford as well as many others would have been less greedy they would not have needed a bailout.
The Feds knew that Lincoln and Hartford had bought banks to qualify for TARP. The
Feds reacted by saying – Well, they played by the rules. Now we find out the money went to the insurance part of the business. Another Fed-backed scam was OK’ed. Move on – no shocker here.
Woops.
What Hartford and Lincon did may have been considered dastardly years ago. Today, I am sure the CEO’s of those organizations are now enshrined as great minds on how to get “free” money and are probably envied by all other ceo’s.
The fact of the matter is that these two insurers needed money to stay afloat and continue operating without having to sell off parts of the company (or go under). Insurance companies operate differently than do banks or car manufacturers, so they spent the money the best way they saw fit to get back on their feet. Now these ‘watchdogs’ are making it sound as if they just got creative so they could scam money out of the government – that is not the case. It was borrowed with the same intent and will be paid back.
so it was like a free loan to stay afloat!? how unfair! i think this was misused money spent, and in this case for a couple of insurance companies, to purchase shares/own a bank! how uncool!! question – how can i get a free loan?
so it was like a free loan to stay afloat!? how unfair! i think this was misused money spent, and in this case for a couple of insurance companies, to purchase shares/own a bank! how uncool!! question – how can i get a free loan?
Maybe you contact AIG, Citigroup, GMAC, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citizen’s, Wells Fargo, Suntrust, Union, Chrysler, or one of the other hundreds of companies that got TARP money to answer your question.
Only one company (AIG) was considered to be systemically significant if failed. The rest were mostly small businesses or lenders that needed money to stay afloat.
When exactly did Hartford become a small business? They should have done what I would have had to do. Spin off the profitable lines, bankrupt the rest. I can’t believe there is a TARP defender here.
No one said The Hartford is a small business. Nor was I exactly defending TARP – only pointing out that insurance companies would naturally have to use their funds differently than a bank or car manufacturer.
And unless you happen to be the CEO of a major corporation, I doubt you can compare your bankruptcy to the bankruptcy of a 200-year old employer of thousands.
So what you’re saying is if my agency were 200 years old and I dropped the ball, I should be bailed out with tax dollars because my business is old?
I lost an account the other day to a bailed out bank. Does anyone think it’s fair for Banks to receive TARP (bailout funds) and remain in competition against non-bank insurance agencies?
How come it took this nsightful watchdog group about a year to report what everybody in the insurance community knew all along?
Hartford only bought that smal bank so they could thus qualify for the tarp money…Simple.
Get ready to see your tarp money at work folks real soon… Since Harford is a huge sponser of NCAA basketball, that tarp money will go to good use buying TV time on CBS pretty soon…..
Did anyone expect that Hartford would take the TARP money from their “phony” little bank purchase and start handing out loans to average tax payers for home, auto purchases etc? Perhaps if Hartford as well as many others would have been less greedy they would not have needed a bailout.