Insurers to Take TARP $$ - Why? Why not!

>Lake Forest, Illinois, February 9, 2009 – The Dow Jones Newswires report that insurance companies that applied for capital injections from the U.S. government's $700 billion bailout fund could get approval as early as today (Monday), according to the Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed sources (why is it always put this way?) familiar with the matter.Some insurance companies recently got approval to buy banks, which would allow them to participate in the government program, the report said.

The program is part of the government's overall Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. Insurance companies could hear from the Treasury as soon as Monday about whether they are eligible for the injections, it said. Unless a company was really on the verge of ruin, why would a management team want the government looking over its shoulder? This flood of money in any other country would portend the nationalization of a portion of the insurance industry.

However, in the U.S., there are different standards at work. It goes something like this: Let’s take the money – why not, we can influence Washington to forgive the debt at a later time. Actually, it must be that they don’t feel the government can or will look at anything – their plates are full and the assembled group of elected officials don’t know anything about the business anyway.

It’s more or less, free money.