Awwwwwl. Brings a tear to me' eye.

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Confessions-of-a-TARP-Wife: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

I think this is just what the TARP CEO's (and their families) don't understand. Nobody faults them for their success and celebrating their successes with extravagant birthday parties but they are a failure right now.

The CEO's are on welfare.

I know it must be hard for them to live on a pittance of less than $500,000/year but I am confident that they'll get by and find a way to finance their kid's educations at state schools or whatnot.

If he is having health issues from this, may I suggest quitting to find a job in customer service, food service, or retail behind a cash register? It would be a lot less stressful. You just go in, punch a clock, and punch out and leave your troubles behind.

This is another reason why they should just nationalize the banks and get it over with and stop screwing around.

[Broken Arrow]

The good news is that Americans have short attention spans. Before long, some other group will come along to absorb all the frustration and anger.

Thank you Mrs. Tarp. I'll be sure to conveniently forget this line with my short attention span when this blows over.

Seriously though, I'm lost for words.

[rizzmo]

I really can't believe a real human being wrote this. So basically they are still rich, but she is upset because now she has to be discrete about their spending. Wow, her poor husband sure is rough when you have to fix the mistakes you have made. I'm sure he is worse off health wise than the displaced worker who now has no insurance and is making minimum wage.

[disneysteve]

Am I the only one who thinks this may be satirical to some degree, rather than a totally true story?

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Actually, the author sounds rather intelligent, educated and well-written, not like a Peggy Bundy spending her husband's money.

It could be a ruse. . .but if so, the author did a good job hiding it.

[red92s]

Am I the only one who thinks this may be satirical to some degree, rather than a totally true story?

You are not.

[poundwise]

Am I the only one who thinks this may be satirical to some degree, rather than a totally true story?

Yes. It is obviously satire. Just not well done satire.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Actually it was suggested that it was Liz Peek wrote it.

[blankcheck]

I read all of the comments here, and was expecting a 50/50 shot at the article being satire. Now, after reading it, I wonder how this could be taken seriously. I see it as a joke until proven otherwise. How a person interprets this article says more about their personality than about the author.

[poundwise]

How a person interprets this article says more about their personality than about the author.

"We see things as we are, not as they are." - Leo Rosten

[Cassandra]

This reminds me of the "Dating a Banker Anonymous" girls. I don't think the article is serious.

[Scanner]

Hmmm. I could be dense but I didn't think it was a satire. I thought this part seemed like a reasonable "Diary of a TARP wife":

I've watched the skin under my husband's eyes take on a yellowish hue, and his hair turn from gray to grayer, as he tries to lead his company through this mess. He's up every night for hours at a stretch, and for the first time, he has health issues. For a person whose life has been punctuated mainly by success -- from perennial class president and high-school sports star to Ivy League MBA -- failure is the worst of all nightmares. He seems off balance, as though self-confidence were a physical ballast that he is slowly losing. It's heartbreaking how often he apologizes to me for losing so much of our money, for making so many mistakes.

You think a TARP wife is satirizing her husband's health?

[supercheap]

"being a TARP wife means, in short, making decisions according to a complex algorithm: balancing the need to look like your world hasn't crumbled beneath you -- let's not alarm the investors! -- with the need to appear duly repentant for your subprime sins. It also means we're part of the community of more than 400 companies that have received government bailout funds, whose fall from grace has been swifter and harsher than any since Mao frog-marched intellectuals into China's countryside"

"complex algorithms" TARP Wife, I think not....Fake

[herm4]

Actually, the author sounds rather intelligent, educated and well-written, not like a Peggy Bundy spending her husband's money.

It could be a ruse. . .but if so, the author did a good job hiding it.

I agree!

[EEinNJ]

A well written satire piece:
"
we're part of the community of more than 400 companies that have received government bailout funds, whose fall from grace has been swifter and harsher than any since Mao frog-marched intellectuals into China's countryside"

If only! The sickening thing is the Treasury and the Fed is in collusion with these scoundrels to put Humpty Dumpty back together, outside of public scrutiny, at taxpayer expense. Example: Treasury forcing BoA to buy Merrill and keep quiet about it.