One thing people can do to express their displeasure with bailouts of the financial system is to pull their savings out of large interstate banks like BoA and Wells Fargo, and deposit it at local small neighborhood bank which avoided the taint of TARP funding.

The Treasury, USDT, Treasury Department, U.S. Department of the Treasury, etc. – these all work better than just saying “Treasury.”

Would you rather the headline read: “TCF bank pays off TARP, stockholders punished by Treasury in return”?

Vashta.Nerada on April 24, 2009 at 5:41 PM

Unless something will keep the bank from making up the dividend cut later, it seems it would be more accurate to say, “TCF bank pays off TARP, and Treasury disrupts its dividend stream.” What has been actually reported would have seemed quite bad enough, on account of the Obama Treasury’s know-it-all meddlesomeness and disruption of shareholders’ expectations. By making the incident out to be even worse than it was, you convey that the incident had to be tarted up, because it wasn’t so bad in itself. That’s not the impression I would have you convey.

Point being is that Cooper shouldn’t have accepted the TARP funds to begin with.

watson007 on April 24, 2009 at 9:11 PM

Treasury leaned all over the banks to take the TARP money. Cooper might not have realized at that point that he should have resisted more firmly. That only became clear later. At least he came to his senses and got out, if a bit belatedly.

Your point is well-taken, though. If you accept the Federal money, you accept the Federal strings. However, the Obama administration keeps changing the rules of the game; they are making it up as they go along. Unless and until they start acting like grownups, they are going to find fewer and fewer folks willing to work with them on anything.

ss396 on April 25, 2009 at 12:26 AM

.
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Nicely said. Most people don’t realize that the government FORCED the banks to take the TARP money in an attempt to hide from the public the weak from the strong. It was to prevent bank runs and stock manipulation.
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Also, the parties involved should not change terms of the deal mid-stream. Outrageous!

Who died and made Obama king?

maverick muse on April 24, 2009 at 3:27 PM

53% of the voting public.

Point being is that Cooper shouldn’t have accepted the TARP funds to begin with.

watson007 on April 24, 2009 at 9:11 PM

Treasury leaned all over the banks to take the TARP money. Cooper might not have realized at that point that he should have resisted more firmly. That only became clear later. At least he came to his senses and got out, if a bit belatedly.

Your point is well-taken, though. If you accept the Federal money, you accept the Federal strings. However, the Obama administration keeps changing the rules of the game; they are making it up as they go along. Unless and until they start acting like grownups, they are going to find fewer and fewer folks willing to work with them on anything.

…I just wish I could open an account.

But does it prevent TCF from increasing it to a one time $0.45 per share next quarter?

My thoughts exactly.

In other words, Treasury just cut 80% of the revenue for the stockholders as a penalty for early repayment of the TARP funds. Does that make sense to anyone else? Shouldn’t Treasury reward fiscal responsibility in its banks by allowing owners (stockholders) to realize their profit?

This was never about helping anyone but expansive, corrupt, tyrannical government! Lesson?? Do not take government money!

Forcing Cooper and TCF stockholders to pay a ransom in order to get their bank back is counterintuitive under any other scenario.

Actually, there’s one scenario under which this makes sense (in the regulatory sense). By forcing TCF to cut its dividend, TCF now has more capital than it “needs.”

Therefore — and remember, this is gummint reasoning — they can ‘afford to’ lend more to the right audience, hint hint. Watch for the ‘sharp elbows’ to emerge down the road.

if only you could restrain yourself from insulting our intelligence by baiting us with this deceitful nonsense.

Kralizec on April 24, 2009 at 3:57 PM

Would you rather the headline read: “TCF bank pays off TARP, stockholders punished by Treasury in return”?