TARP III = $750b - $500 = $250b

Still about 40 minutes away from the embargo breakage on the budget, but an Associated Press article that flashed at 6:00 this morning reveals something new: a $250 billion reserve fund to sustain the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Actually, it's a $750 billion expenditure, but the government is assuming, based on, well, assumptions about economic growth, that about $500 billion will be returned to the taxpayer. The outline calls it a "placeholder for potential additional financial stabilization efforts" which would "support $750 billion" in assets.