EISP list

Add this one to the "Everything is Someone elese's problem" list. Lack of responsibility.

Banks need to replenish the FDIC... Don't want to.

The banking industry faces a $27 billion assessment this year to replenish the federal insurance fund that protects most bank deposits, further reducing the money available to support new lending.

Some bankers had pushed the board to instead borrow money from the Treasury Department to replenish the insurance fund, and then repay the loan over time from the industry's regular assessments. Collecting the money directly from banks could reduce the industry's aggregate lending capacity by more than $150 billion, because each dollar of capital can support about $7 of lending.

"Somebody has to pay for things, and we're asking taxpayers to pay for a lot right now, and so I don't think that's a step we should be taking," Bair said in an interview after the board meeting. "The fact that the FDIC has not relied on taxpayer funds is a very good thing in these beleaguered times."

The board did approve a number of changes that require banks with riskier business models to pay a larger share of the assessment.

You have to love Sheila Bair. Still mind blowing that a bush appointee could be so competent. And that she was willing to stand up to Paulson last year.