Credit Card Companies Getting Billions In Taxpayer Bailout

Trying to stay abreast of developments surrounding the auto industry's attempts to stay afloat is a daunting task, made worse by the fact that reading comprehension goes down in inverse proportion to seething rage.

For instance, did you know that, like the investment banks, the major credit card companies are now "bank holding companies" getting large infusions of taxpayer dollars? That's right. Now that they've been granted the right to drink at the taxpayer tap from the Bush administration,AmEx et al are receiving multiple billions of taxpayer dollars to shore up their balance sheets.

This follows on, of course, the hundreds of billions already passed out to actual banks (Citi, Chase etc.) and other "new banks" (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan etc.) since the TARP program was announced earlier this year. This also follows on multiple stories detailing how credit card companies are raising rates for no reason.

Where's the hue and cry about bad management and product decisions, and grossly overpaid executives? (The CEO of AmEx rakes in about $26M/yr., according to a March 2008 filing.)

Manufacturers really should start researching how to transform into bank holding companies. It seems like a profitable racket.