http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/19/news/economy/tarp_tale_of_first350b/index.htm?postversion=2008121916Sounds like a plot to a bad Richard Pryor movie.So, how did they do it?  The Treasury has:sent checks totaling $168 billion in varying amounts to 116 banks;committed another $82 billion to capitalize more banks;bought $40 billion in preferred shares of American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500) so the troubled insurer could pay off an earlier loan from the Federal Reserve;committed $20 billion to back any losses that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might incur in a new program to lend money to owners of securities backed by credit card debt, student loans, auto loans and small business loans;committed to invest $20 billion in Citigroup on top of $25 billion the bank had already received;committed $5 billion as a loan loss backstop to Citigroup;agreed to loan $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler to get them through the next few months.Now, if I could just get my $1 billion, then we would be all set.  Or maybe this says it better: