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Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation’s biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that many critics thought might never be seen again.

The profits, collected from eight of the biggest banks that have fully repaid their obligations to the government, come to about $4 billion, or the equivalent of about 15 percent annually, according to calculations compiled for The New York Times.

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They criticized the White House for referring to the number of “jobs created or saved” by the $787 billion package — a metric, they claimed, that is impossible to verify.

The White House Office of Management and Budget defended the plan, arguing that every federal dollar spent has, by definition, helped to ease the pain of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The Republican and Democratic leaders traded their arguments during a contentious hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“In selling the stimulus package, the administration promised the American people that [the] legislation would create or save 3.5 million jobs and prevent the U.S. unemployment rate from rising above 8 percent,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California.

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WASHINGTON – Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s staff contacted federal regulators last fall to ask about the bailout application of an ailing Hawaii bank that he had helped to establish and where he has invested the bulk of his personal wealth.

The bank, Central Pacific Financial, was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks. The firm’s losses were depleting its capital reserves. Its primary regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., already had decided that it didn’t meet the criteria for receiving a favorable recommendation and had forwarded the application to a council that reviewed marginal cases, according to agency documents.

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(CNN) — Unless lawmakers agree on how to close the budget gap, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he refuses to borrow money to keep the state running in the face of a $24.3 billion budget deficit and a new fiscal year on the horizon.

“We need to just basically cut off all the funding and just let them have a taste of what it is like when the state comes to a shutdown — grinding halt,” Schwarzenegger said outside the state capital late Wednesday

Full Story At  CNN.com

Echoing the sentiment of taxpayers, the president on Monday called the ailing insurance giant’s plans to dole out $165 million in bonuses an “outrage” and said he would attempt to block the additional compensation.

AIG, one of the big benefactors of the government bailout, is now nearly 80 percent owned by taxpayers.

Full Story At  CBS News

CBS) A growing number of Americans are opposed to providing government assistance to ailing financial institutions, according to a new CBS News poll.

The poll also shows that the public clearly blames the management of the banks for the crisis and that many Americans are feel resentful that irresponsible banking executives could benefit from the hundreds of billions that has been doled out to banks and other financial institutions in the last six months.

Full Story At  msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.

Full Story At What got cut from the stimulus bill – CNN.com

CNN obtained, from a Democratic leadership aide, a list of some programs that have been cut, either entirely or partially:

Partially cut:

• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)

• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)

Full Story At  msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration, seeking to deal with the political outrage over the handling of the government’s $700 billion financial rescue program, plans to impose tough new standards on future payments to banks. It is also greatly expanding an effort to unclog credit markets to provide loans to consumers and businesses.

Full Story At msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama’s plan for combatting the worst recession in decades.