White House Sharply Cuts Cost Of TARP

The White House

saying the controversial bailout of banks will now only cost $50 billion, as AIG

and Citigroup

are in the process of completely severing ties with the government and returning back entirely to the private markets. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was the one who made the proclamation that TARP will cost less than $50 billion, far lower than originally estimated. "The people who voted for that -- Republicans and Democrats -- deserve a lot of credit because that was a deeply difficult political decision for them ... and the returns on that program have been overwhelmingly positive for the economy and for the American people," Geithner said. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the profit on AIG could be as high as $20 billion for taxpayers, if it were all to be sold at yesterdays closing price. He also said that the costs were likely to improve as the Treasury unwinds its stake in General Motors and Chrysler.