Kinda like the old saying “Robbing Peter to pay Paul”.  You are still in debt.  In this case you are just still in debt to the government.

So on this day when Goldman Sachs and  a few other banks are being celebrated for paying back the TARP, I have to wonder if anyone really cares how much they are borrowing under all the other Fed lending programs like the Discount Window, TAF, TALF, PDCF, etc.

If you can pay back a highly-stigmatizing loan at 5% that everyone knows you have and simultaneously borrow from the same entity at rates as low as 0.5% without the Fed having to disclose your identity, should we be impressed?