Real Money

“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money”
________________ Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen (deceased)

It's been nearly impossible to keep track of all the government programs intended to avert a total meltdown of our financial system. The overuse of acronyms such as TARP, TALF, PPIT, and TLGP doesn't help, except when making a rough estimate of the total ($100 billion for each letter is a good rule of thumb).

A few financial journalists have attempted to keep up with the potential liability resulting from all these programs. Most gave up as the total went over $10 trillion late last year. The federal government hasn't made this easier, since the information (when it's even available) is scattered over a dozen or so websites.

Apparently, no one in Congress thought to ask "what does all this add up to?" But a new report released by the special inspector general overseeing the $700 billion TARP bailout will make it difficult to avoid the question.

Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky will be testifying today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and has made it clear that the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve aren't disclosing enough information about how taxpayer money is actually being spent. He's estimating that the total potential taxpayer liability of all these programs adds up to a cool $23.7 trillion.

How much is $23.7 trillion? Well, it's enough to buy every stock traded on the U.S. stock market...twice. It's enough to buy every taxpayer a quarter of a million dollar home. It's enough to pay off the entire national debt, and still have $12 trillion left over. It's also enough to pay for Obama's health care plan for 200 years.

It's important to note that the government hasn't fully utilized many of these programs, so it's more useful to think of this as how much the government was willing to spend to avert a financial crisis. It's also an indication of how severe last September's near-meltdown really was.

The good news is that the amount of the $23.7 trillion the government has actually had to use has come down in recent months, and the report shows a current balance of $3 trillion, which is the lowest it's been since late last year.

As you watch Congressmen reading talking points from health insurers and drug manufacturers posturing about how health care is "too expensive," you might wonder where they've been over the past year.