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February 11, 2009

How come that 'indispensable' Tim Geithner and those titans of finance didn't think of this? (Updated)

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Via Kathryn Jean Lopez's piece at NRO, "While Tim Geithner Said Nothing," that begins with the appropriate lead in of "The Washington Post went to look for a new treasury secretary;" we have the below excerpt from the WaPo that begs the question, 'So where's that so called "indispensable" Tim Geithner that Obama told us about?"":

[...] What if Citizens were to use its federal bailout money to offer below-market mortgage rates with no closing costs to consumers who would buy a house, or a house lot, from builders and developers who had borrowed money from Citizens?

Price asked some of his loan officers to check with the builders and developers, who not surprisingly were excited enough about the project to be willing to chip in some money to help cover a portion of the forgone closing costs. So last week, Citizens launched its marketing campaign for the $20.5 million program, in collaboration with its builder-developer customers, offering 30-year loans with an initial teaser rate of 3.5 percent for the first two years, rising to a fixed 5.5 percent rate (the current market rate) for the balance of the loan.

"As we see it, it's a win-win-win situation all round," Price explained to me. The builders and developers win by having a tool to help move their unsold inventory. The consumer wins by getting a cut-rate loan. And Citizens wins because it lowers the risk that it will have to write off even more of its commercial loans while taking a modest step to help stimulate the local economy. And, of course, the public relations bump isn't bad either.

What's striking, however, is the attitude Price expresses in talking of the new program. He's enough of a profit-making businessman to know that when the government is offering 5 percent equity money, he'd be a damn fool not to take it, even if his bank is already well capitalized. And yet he's sensitive enough about obligation that he feels comes with taking taxpayer money that he was anxious to use it in a visible way to benefit his community and his customers, as well as his shareholders.

In truth, Citizens won't literally be using its federal bailout money to make these mortgage loans. In fact, no bank would -- using money that costs 5 percent to make 5.5 percent loans won't get you very far in the banking business. But what each dollar of government capital does for Citizens, or any other bank, is give it the ability to go out and borrow another $9 from depositors or the Federal Home Loan Bank at a rate of 2.5 percent or less.

By the way, Kim Price would have had no trouble meeting the Obama administration's new $500,000 salary cap for executives at banks taking bailout money. His total pay package last year was $456,146, including a base salary of $250,000; a bonus of $64,800; $63,920 worth of Citizens stock; and $33,415 in other perks, including country club membership and a company car (driver not included).

And get this: Somehow the directors of Citizens South managed to attract and retain a chief executive who turned in respectable profits during good times and bad, and yet was able to pay him only 10 times the salary of the average employee. Pretty neat, huh?

So here's a question the House Financial Services Committee might put to the Titans of Finance: How is it that Kim Price, a community banker with an undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University, a tiny executive staff and a pay package that you would consider insulting, somehow managed to come up with a more creative use for his government bailout money than any of you?

This tells us we could have paid a lot less and have gotten a truly creative guy like Kim Price instead of ignoring a tax cheat's history and overpaying for the obviously "dispensable" Geithner. Obama spoofed us, again.

Related:
Tim Gheitner: The Dog Ate My Homework
Geithner Bombs

Posted by Hyscience at February 11, 2009 7:14 AM

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• How come that 'indispensable' Tim Geithner and those titans of finance didn't think of this? (Updated) - Feb 11, 2009