Okay, so let me get this straight. Not only were certain banks forced by the powers that be to take TARP money, now that they want to pay it back, they have to ‘prove’ to those same powers that be that they can raise money in the public market. So at first the taxpayers got screwed and now the shareholders of these certain banks get diluted and lose 4% overnight as these banks had multi billion dollar stock offerings.

When will all of this nonsense stop? After all why should these banks have to prove that they can raise money? I thought that the results of the ’stress test’ was proof in the pudding as to the financial situation of individual banks?

If this isn’t further proof of the dangers of government intervention, I don’t know what is. Anyone notice a pattern? Government gets involved in an industry, taxpayers have to foot the bill as billions of dollars are thrown into a black hole, and then the government sets another rule that ends up diluting or in the case of the auto’s, completely wiping out any value that shareholders had.

As usual it’s the little guy that gets screwed!

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Looking to save money and cut costs, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced limits on fuel consumption.

According to Ynet: “In an effort to save money, IDF soldiers have been ordered to scrimp on gas. Effective October at the latest, all military-issued cars will be ordered to use no more than predetermined amounts of fuel. Any officer with a military-issued vehicle using more gas than this amount will automatically have the difference deducted from his or her salary. In the event that the vehicles belong to the division rather than an officer, fuel use exceeding the preset limit will be docked from the division’s budget. The plan is expected to save the IDF, host to some 12,000 motor vehicles including over 8,000 cars, some NIS 20 million (about $5 million) annually. Currently, the IDF uses over 150 million liters of fuel a year.”

This seems like good policy. Even tough gas prices have dropped dramatically, this bit of forced discipline will save taxpayers money. Money, that in this current economic environment, they don’t have.

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