Political interference

This is thoroughly unsurprising:

Troubled OneUnited Bank in Boston didn't look much like a candidate for aid from the Treasury Department's bank bailout fund last fall.

The Treasury had said it would give money only to healthy banks, to jump-start lending. But OneUnited had seen most of its capital evaporate. Moreover, it was under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use.

Nonetheless, in December OneUnited got a $12 million injection from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. One apparent factor: the intercession of Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful head of the House Financial Services Committee.

A lot of people believe that when government acts that a bunch of really smart guys get together and devise careful plans based on hard data and rigorous analysis. That's fantasy. This is the way the sausage really gets made.

Think about that when you see the government preparing to spend (i.e. take from taxpayers and re-distribute) hundreds of billions of dollars in the name of stimulating the economy.

(story via Club for Growth)