Umpqua Bank Takes Bailout it Doesn’t Need

Remember how George Bush, Henry Paulson and other supporters of the $700-billion bailout for banks swore up and down how the taxpayer money was desperately needed so that banks could lend money to main street Americans? Well, it now appears that’s not what the money was really for at all. The Bush Administration just handed Umpqua Bank, one of the Northwest’s largest financial institutions, $214 million in taxpayer bailout cash. Continue reading