Dean Baker looks at all the TARP recipients scrambling to pay back their government aid and get out from under the TARP restrictions on pay (NYT story) and wonders how many will simply turn to Fed and FDIC programs that have no such strings attached. Baker writes:

"[T]he banks still have access to special Fed lending windows that allow them to borrow money at below market rates. They can issue bonds insured by the FDIC... and they have been beneficiaries of taxpayer dollars used to pay off AIG debts. It is not clear whether more money will be funneled, without conditions, from taxpayers to the banks through AIG. In addition, the Treasury Department's Public Private Investment Program would subsidize the purchase of bad assets from the banks allowing them to command an above market price."