Bailed-Out Independent Bank Of Michigan Lends Only A Trickle Of Funds

The bad bets made by executives at Independent Bank of Michigan are on display in spots across the state: a defunct bowling alley, a new but never occupied shopping center and the luxurious Whispering Woods Estates, which offers prime lots for never-constructed dream homes.

Now it is the federal government making the big bet here.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Rule Of Law]

What's amazing is that we are paying for bad investment made by these financial genuises that are apparently so difficult to understand that only a handful in Congress do. But in this world of instantaneous electronic bookeeping married to the centuries old fractional reserve banking system, aren't we really talking about computer entries based on money that never existed in the first place?

Is anyone here going to give me 2 or 5 trillion dollars just because I write a number on a piece of paper and wave it around while screaming the sky is going to fall?

[philosopherkingtomas]

read the washington post story for real analysis:

"There is, however, an even bigger reason why the Obama team needs the next $350 billion. In the next few weeks, banks and other financial institutions will report their latest quarterly results, and they are likely to contain another round of multibillion-dollar losses. Without additional bailout funds at their disposal, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve may find themselves unable to rescue the next Citigroup or the next AIG.
There is plenty to dislike about the Treasury's bailout program, and no doubt there are lots of ways it can be improved, but it is simply unfair to call it a failure. Given the size of the credit bubble and the excessive leverage that banks were allowed to take on, there was no way to rescue the financial system without injecting new capital, shrinking loan portfolios and shielding bankers from the full consequences of their misjudgments. The standard by which it should be judged is not whether it is fair, which it is not, or whether it has magically prevented foreclosures and restored the normal flow of capital, which it could not, but whether it has sufficiently stabilized the financial system to allow for an orderly restructuring.
By that standard, it has been a qualified success. "
Steven Pearlstein

[Rule Of Law]

If it's so stabilized, why will these banks need more of my money?

[fact finder]

Look at the facts. Banks collapsing, auto makers in turmoil, more and nore jobs being out- sourced every day and the futures market bouncing up and down like a red rubber ball or a yo- yo. This country is allready in a depression, the powers that be simply have not let you know it---- yet,

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

I wish people would stop calling this a "bailout".....it is nothing but a giant financial scam to steal money that hasn't even been collected. No one is going to see the "bailout" money except those that already have billions, stole billions.... and continue to do so, without punishment.

Seriously, do any of you out here think the public is going to get ANY benefit from the stolen 700 billion? That was a huge sweep by the wealthy to get the last of the cash before our country went bankrupt.

[novene]

I agree..............

[Erdgeist]

You can't bailout the supply-side (the banks which supply capital) and expect jobs to come out of the woodwork. As long as U.S. corporations continue to off-shore throwing millions of Americans out of work except a Great Depression -- expect unemployment to take a leap into double digits within the year. And just as important, we import much more than we export creating a trade imbalance of 2 billion dollars a day! This alone is catastrophic.

[schatsie]

Barack has 2 major problems..
1. Who is going to trust the banks, they were the gamblers and greedy and irresponsible.
2. Who is going to take on any more debt? The interest rates are obscene and the tax writeoff for mortgage interest, property taxes and state income taxes is scaled to the rich... We need to get tax credits for these for the bottom 60-80% and that will free up some money to be spent or to paydown debt or TO SAVE....Giving a tax break to business at the time for hiring new people will only result in experienced people being shoved out the door and create more job insecurity...

[LiveFromThePhilippines]

I want to be an optimist, but for some reason I am thinking "Business as Usual". I am still holding out that Obama will make the change he talked about and not become another Washington politican.

[novene]

I'm with you. Obama says banks too big to fail! Nader said it, he hoped obama don't sell out to corporate AMERICA before they quickly pulled the plug on him. OBAMA REMEMBER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO PUT YOU IN OFF IN OFFICE. The homeowners, people wanting healthcare, ones without voices. YOU PROMISED.

A PROMISE IS A COMFORT TO A FOOL...

[SwingingFromCenter]

A bank taking our money and running? Say it ain't so!

Wait, what do you mean EVERY bank has done this?

THis is what happens anytime something drastic is done in government. A law is passed that has virtually no checks and balances and no safeguards, and then it just gets worse.

[humblediplomat]

The bailout is the biggest financial scam ever...

[novene]

Wake up AMERICA! You've been scammed!!!!!!

[nomadicexpat]

who exactly has scammed this money from you? the banks? if that is the case why are their stocks all down like 80%? if theyve had this huge windfall, you should be buying shares like crazy!

these are long term investments which likely will be paid back in due course

[ZellaBee]

Been hearing the all of the banks will close next week for several days. Maybe this is why no one is lending, because the monetary system is about to collapse than change. Does anyone here know more?
Please help if you know more.