The U.S. Treasury Department has done nothing to make sure $700 billion in taxpayer-provided bailout money is used to buttress the weak U.S. mortgage market, which was the catalyst for the growing global financial crisis, congressional watchdog Elizabeth Warren said Friday.

The Bush administration Friday dropped its opposition to using the $700 billion bank bailout fund to provide financing for U.S. automakers after the Senate balked at approving $14 billion emergency loans.

Banking bailouts are nothing new. Starting with the “panic of 1792″, there have been many examples of government financial rescues. Keith Fitz-Gerald says the success of these past bailouts is mixed. And they nearly always cost far more than originally thought…

For a guy with a Harvard MBA, President Bush simply doesn’t get how real banks work… but anyone who has waited three to five days for an out of state check to clear gets how the “float” works.