Now that the results of the U.S. bank stress tests are finally in the books, the extent of the capital shortfalls are known and – in many cases – are actually being addressed.

Consumer Credit Falls to Record Low in March; GM Burns Through $10.2 Billion in First Quarter; Commercial Mortgage Delinquencies Soar to 11-Year High; Retailers Report Better-Than-Expected Sales in April; FBI Will Add More Agents for White-Collar Crime; Boeing Loses Dream Deal

“GM burns through $10 billion” reads the headline. Surprising no one, “Government Motors” continues to destroy wealth at a record pace.

Auto and mortgage lender GMAC LLC (NYSE: GKM) reported a first-quarter loss of $675 million and now faces further pressure from bank “stress tests” and freefalling sales volumes that may push its former parent General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) into bankruptcy.

Bailout purgatory is bad for everybody, apart from the banks, their shareholders and their unsecured creditors. As Roubini points out, the government has been siphoning money into banks via capital injections, loan guarantees and financing with no strings attached.

“We do not want a disclosable event.” Thus spoke former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Bank of America CEO, Ken Lewis, last December.

You may have noticed that most of my articles are pretty in depth and lengthy. A fellow IDE editor recently pointed that out and issued a challenge … “I bet you ten bucks you can’t write a one page essay.”

Not a fan of socialism? Me either. But, if the federal government has to backstop free market excesses with taxpayer dollars, how will it eventually unravel the veil, or tarp of intervention? Or should it? The answers are about to unfold before our eyes.

Goldman Raises $5 Billion to Repay TARP; Cost Cutting Will Save Royal Phillips $664 Million; Johnson & Johnson Earnings Saved By Cost Cuts; Singapore Forecasts 6%-9% 2009 Decline; Discover to Cut 500 Jobs; LIBOR Rate Dropping Fast; Coal Prices to Stay Low in 2009; Madoff Firm Files Bankruptcy

On close inspection, there are only two possibilities for the Geithner “Rescue Plan”: It’s an honest effort doomed to fail… or a blatant scam that just might work.