Looking under the TARP.

• Author: Gearino, G.D.
• Position: FINE PRINT - Troubled Asset Relief Program

Having trouble figuring out the rhyme and reason buried within the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program? Me, too. That's why I undertook a study of participation by North Carolina banks in the effort, in which the government invests in banks in the hope that the money will loosen a grid-locked economy. Here are my findings:

Number of community banks turning up on the Treasury Department's list of institutions getting TARP money despite the fact that their significance to the national economy couldn't be determined even by a team of Nobel Prize-winning economists using supercomputers: 1

Ever wonder why you don't hear 1st Financial Services Corp. of Hendersonville come up when the CNBC crew hashes over business news after the markets close? It operates a 15-branch bank in the mountains, trades its stock over the counter and boasts that its success is rooted in "the little things" such as "the best coffee in town" and "fresh baked cookies daily." So how did it end up with $16.4 million of TARP investment? As CEO Greg Gibson explains it, federal officials recruited the tiny banking company. "We have a reputation for not being afraid to try new stuff. We thought it would be good for the U.S. taxpayers." Have a cookie, America.

Number of banks deciding that no good can come of having the federal government as an investor/shareholder, no matter how many times Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson assures them there will be no interference from politicians in the operations of their institutions: 2 (as of this writing)

Raleigh-based First Citizens couldn't say no fast enough, and North State, also based there, soon declared it would prefer to be taken off the TARP mailing list, thank you very much. It's comforting to know a few people in the financial industry still are skeptical when they hear: "We're from the government, and we're here to help you."

Number of financially sound banks taking TARP money they don't need but unable to grasp the implications of announcing that the taxpayer money might be used to expand their market share: 1

Even before BB&T officially became the recipient of $3.1 billion in TARP money, CEO John Allison told analysts that the Winston-Salem bank had bountiful lending capacity but that he viewed the public money as "a relatively inexpensive way to raise capital for acquisition opportunities." Cue the predictable expression of outrange from U.S. Rep. Barney Frank: "I am deeply disappointed ... Any use of these...