"Banks 'may need an extra $143bn'"

It's the banks who got us all into the sub-prime mess by making horrible investment decisions (and yes, those getting the loans made bad decisions too but if the banks hadn't offered them the ridiculous loan in the first place, it wouldn't have happened), and it is the banks looking to Uncle Sap to get them out.  Anything that the federal government does for the homeowner - isn't for the home owner, it's for the banks.

The Fed has already pumped about $60 billion into the banking system through a new ruse, the TAF.  They already pumped $100 billion into European banks that wan and it didn't get much notice.

From what I can tell, the TAF is the Fed auctioning book entries to banks who purchase them with book entries.  It's called paperless banking and doesn't even go against the national debt.  Yet in spite of this - the banks are looking for a direct hand out.  It's always the little guy who gets left out.

Fed Announces Fourth Term Auction Facility, Set For Monday

1/25/2008 1:10:09 PM The Federal Reserve announced the last of its near-term expected utilization of the Term Auction Facility on Friday. The Federal Reserve will auction $30 billion in 28-day credit on Monday, January 28.

The auction will open at 10:00 am ET and close three hours later, at 1:00 pm ET. Winners will be notified Tuesday, January 29, and the auction will be settled Thursday, January 31. The loans will mature on February 28.

The minimum bid amount is $10 million, and the maximum per institution is $3 billion. Bids may be increased by increments of $100,000.

This marks the last expected auction, after the Federal Reserve announced in December it planned to auction off an additional $60 billion in credit. The last auction was held on January 14, and had a stop-out rate of 3.95 percent. The auction also offered $30 billion in 28-day credit.

Some $55.526 billion propositions were submitted for the $30 billion in available credit. The bid/cover ratio was 1.85, and a total of 56 bidders vied for a piece of the credit.