I've called and chatted with them...
They seem forthcoming enough...
Just not much ability for THEM to see through all the murk the situation presents, now, making it pretty much uncertain, if not quite a total crap shoot, what happens from here.
I don't expect much will happen quickly...
I'm expecting the best thing going for most banks in similar situations, from here, is that the FDIC is running out of money, and Congress isn't showing all that much will for spending more to continue the effort to aggregate more banks, making fewer and fewer, bigger banks over time... when that runs exactly counter to our public policy interest.
The policy makers need to address the systemic level economic failures we see driving this, from a perspective that the FDIC isn't designed or properly equipped to handle.
If they took returned TARP money and funded the FDIC with it... that would make things worse. If the took the TARP money and funded small banks with it, the same way they funded larger banks, giving them the same sweetheart deals on zero interest loans, etc... that would probably level the playing field, at least, and restore basic function necessary to allow community banks to fund small business, which has to happen before job growth can resume.
The big banks won't lend... and you can't make them lend, while they are earning $ the way they are on the spreads they have now just from sitting on the $$$...
The small banks, if you give them the same sort of chance and opportunity, won't have the same sort of options to NOT lend...
We need a program that can kick start new business lending, kick start job growth, create new competition in the range of economic potential, and do all of that without subjecting the result to control by the big banks...
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