Welcome news from the Obama Administration today.  The President will veto (either outright or as a pocket veto) the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010.  The bill orders federal and state courts to recognize the the marks of out of state notaries.  It's actually been floating around Washington for a long time, getting nowhere but then it was suddenly and unanimously (and quietly) passed by the Senate on its last day in official session, right when homeowners, plaintiffs a

We're now getting a flurry of stories from the Treasury telling us that TARP, unpopular though it may be, was not only effective but cheaper than the worst case scenarios that the government envisioned when the program began.

The New York Times says the program is only going to wind up costing $50 billion, rather than the $700 billion committed or the nearly $400 billion spent.  If our exits from AIG, GM and Ally Financial go well, we could even make money!

In my last career I was fortunate to be able to get to know Barry Ritholtz.  I reviewed his excellent "Bailout Nation" back in 2009 and did a nice Q&A with him soon after.  But enough about me and Barry.  I really want you all to read what he has to say here:

Ever wonder how "welfare queen" stories get started?  Over at Time's Swampland, I think we saw one get born.  Joe Klein, on the road searching for the soul of America or something, decided to uncritically and unskeptically relay a tale told to him by Mark Kirkwood, a resident of the Detroit area.

Kirkwood had a classic welfare queen story to tell: