America hated the first "bailout," according to pollsters. Until pollsters described it without using the term "bailout," which made Americans much more supportive of it. So Barack Obama's multi-billion dollar economy-saving expenditure plans were soon referred to as "stimulus packages," which connotes happy visions of Bush sending everyone checks for a few hundred bucks. But now that isn't good enough for whiny Americans either! So please enjoy your economic recovery program, everyone! Congressional Democrats are now banned from saying "stimulus," because it's a dumb Washington term no one likes, and because, as we all know, if they don't call it that it isn't that. Perception equals reality! (That was true of our entire financial system for many years, btw.) Rahm Emanuel seems to have sent the memo out, and people are still adjusting. Nancy Pelosi almost said stimulus the other day! But then she caught herself: "We're not using the word 'stimulus,'" Nancy said at a press conference. Of course, Democrats do have a legitimate excuse for giving their economic policies a new label: their economic policies are actually different!

We're not sure if this is a sign that the bailout is doomed, or just a signal that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson really is contemplating endorsement deals to revive the economy, but this morning Bloomberg News squeezed a brand name in the headline of a story about the frantic, behind-the-scenes work involved in rescuing Citigroup this past weekend: "Citigroup's $306 Billion Rescue Fueled by Pizza From Domino's."

♦ News of the government's rescue package for Citigroup provided the market with boost yesterday, but Citi CEO Vikram Pandit (who still has his job for the time being) has many long days and nights ahead if he's going to turn the bank around. "This is a reprieve, but it's not a complete pardon." [WSJ]
♦ On CNBC, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the bank's biggest shareholders, expressed confidence in "Mr. Vikram" while "stroking a strand of beads and wearing red-tinted glasses." Then he blamed the bank's problems on Chuck Prince. [NYP]
♦ Tim Geithner may be the man of the hour, but shouldn't he be shouldering some of the blame for the government's missteps thus far? [NYT]
♦ Banks are concerned they may have a credibility problem on their hands. You think? [Reuters]

Barack Obama totally wanted to give the auto makers billions of dollars, but, you know, when they showed up in DC and stepped off their fancy private jets and addressed congress, the representatives of the Big Three forgot to bring any sort of plan. How much money did they need and what were they going to do with it and how would they become solvent and restructure to become competitive again? They dont know! The president-elect knows he should probably not let the nation lose 2 million jobs in one fell swoop (unlike the sitting president) but, you know, they're not giving him much to work with here. Leading the Free World is already like one of those SNL sketches that doesn't need to be ten whole minutes long. Now we totally feel bad we made him be president.

You know the economy is in bad shape when a fake Bloomberg News story with the headline "Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup" starts making the rounds: "The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker." [Bankers Ball]

♦ Following a weekend of non-stop negotiations, a deal is now in place to stabilize Citigroup: The bank will get a $20 billion cash injection from the Treasury Department and the government will guarantee $306 billion worth of toxic assets. [Bloomberg, NYT, WSJ]
♦ The next group in line for a bailout? Home builders, who are now lobbying Congress for a $250 billion stimulus package. [WSJ]
♦ The U.S. economy may need $300 billion and $600 billion more to survive the crisis, says George Soros. [DB]

General Motors now says it plans to return two of its five corporate jets following a wee bit of scandal earlier this week. But it's not as if the company simply caved in the face of bad press! "G.M. is saying that the timing is coincidental since it was already in the process of returning two of its corporate jets." Of course it was! Here's a pic of one of the company's Gulfstreams on the tarmac at LaGuardia. [Dealbook]

One of the crappiest CEO gigs in America right now? That would be the job occupied by Edward Liddy, who took over as AIG's chief executive in September after the ailing insurance giant revealed it would go bankrupt without a jaw-droppingly massive bailout from the federal government. Liddy was supposed to restore order, but things haven't improved much since he arrived on the scene. AIG has since asked Washington for billions more, and the company has been on the defensive over multi-million dollar payouts to former company execs. Then there were the scandals over AIG's all-expenses-paid getaways to lavish hotels: For some strange reason, the idea that taxpayers would foot the bill so that AIG employees could have spa treatments and sip pina coladas struck many as a little bit inappropriate! The downside, of course, is that some AIG execs won't be able to put as much time in the sun this winter, and we wouldn't want any employees to turn sullen and depressed, would we? As part of our continuing effort to cheer up the CEOs who have battered by the financial crisis—so far this week we've sent presents to Lloyd Blankfein (see here) and Vikram Pandit (see here)—we picked up a bottle of "self-tanning mist" for Liddy. If Liddy can't relax in the sun, we'll bring the sun to him. We sent it to his office, though, not his home, because it's a gift we'd really like Liddy to share. Spread it around, Ed. Everyone in the executive suite has the right to pretend they just got back from Aruba. Click here for a larger pic.

♦ With shares down 26 percent yesterday, Citigroup is now weighing all of its options, including possible selling the firm. The board meets today to discuss the " range of scenarios that were unthinkable only weeks ago." [WSJ]
♦ The market bounced back in early trading after historic sell-offs in recent days. [MW]
♦ Hedge funds contracted by 9 percent in October, the lowest level in two years. [Bloomberg]
♦ A bailout of the auto industry won't be taking place just yet. Talks between Detroit and Washington collapsed with lawmakers saying the industry lacked credible plans to return to profitability. [WSJ]
♦ The city's securities industry shed about 16,000 employees in October. [DB]

The chief executives of the big three American auto manufacturers were blasted by lawmakers in Washington yesterday for having the audacity to turn up on Capitol Hill with their tin cups in hand after having just stepped off their lavish corporate jets. The episode turned into a PR disaster for GM, Ford, and Chrysler—and damaged their chances of scoring a deal and landing billions in taxpayer dollars—but at least they were using the jets on company business. Even more eyebrow-raising is how often these palaces in the sky are used to ferry top execs on vacation, or to hang out at events like the Olympics. Of course, there's no way to be sure that GE execs weren't just negotiating a new microwave manufacturing contract when the company's Gulfstream touched down in Puerto Rico on the eve of a holiday weekend. But if you click here, you can see how two of the companies now collecting billions in taxpayer dollars have been making use of their jets over the last few months.

♦ The effort by U.S. automakers to secure a bailout hit a major roadblock after execs from the Big Three were sent home by Congress empty-handed. The behind-the-scenes negotiations continue. [WSJ, Bloomberg]
♦ Shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America are at multi-year lows as the Dow hovers at a six-year low of its own. [DB, DB]
♦ GMAC, controlled by Steve Feinberg's Cerberus Capital, says it's applied to become a bank holding company so it will be eligible for bailout cash. [DB]
♦ GE has turned to China and Singapore as it looks to raise cash. [Bloomberg]
♦ Harbinger's Phil Falcone is pulling back on his media investments. He's reduced his exposure to the New York Times and Media General, just months after fighting for board representation. [WSJ]
♦ Deutsche Bank plans to cut 900 more jobs. [NYP]
♦ Weekly jobless claims have reached a 16-year high. [MW]

Yesterday we sent a big batch of coupons to Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, just in case he was thinking of cutting back on his spending now that he won't be receiving a $60 million bonus at the end of the year. Today we're bestowing charity on the most beleaguered CEO on Wall Street this week, Vikram Pandit. The Citigroup chief announced plans to dismiss 50,000 people earlier this week, and Citi shares tumbled to a historic low today as the bank teeters on the edge of the abyss. Sounds like someone needs a little cheering up!

Please Tip! [Flickr]
Related: Wall Street's Neediest: We're Lending a Helping Hand [Cityfile]

♦ Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Citigroup should follow Goldman's lead and forgo bonuses for senior execs. [NYP]
♦ Embattled Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang has announced he will step down as soon as the board finds a replacement. [NYT, WSJ]
♦ Mark Cuban's attorney on the insider trading charges leveled against his client: "The case has no merit, and is a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion." [WSJ]
♦ Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is unlikely to use the rest of the $700 billion bailout fund on any new initiatives, preferring to hand over the remaining pennies—and very big problems—to his successor in the Obama administration. [WSJ]
♦ Andrew Ross Sorkin on extending the bailout to GM: "Taxpayers shouldn't fork over a cent, at least until shareholders are wiped out, management is tossed out and the industry is completely reorganized." [NYT]

♦ Things may be about to get worse at Citigroup: The Times reports that the bank may be forced to lay off another 25 percent of its workforce as it deals with continued losses, a plunging stock price, and a lack of investor confidence. [NYT]
♦ In a show of faith, Citi CEO Vikram Pandit and three deputies bought a total of 1.3 million shares yesterday after the stock fell below $9 for the first time in 12 years. [Bloomberg]
♦ Is the $700 billion bailout working? Not so much: More than a month and nearly $300 billion into it, "many of the nation's financial arteries seem nearly as sclerotic as they were before. Some of them, in fact, appear to be hardening more." [NYT]

If American Express pleads poverty and gets a multi-billion dollar handout from the government, maybe we should all do the same and just not pay our next AmEx bill? That's Neil Cavuto's suggestion at least, and while we wouldn't necessarily recommend it, if you do decide to toss your statements into the trash and burly collection agents show up on your doorstep, just tell them it was Neil's idea. He can afford to pay both his bill and yours, too.

♦ Dick Parsons is the frontrunner to replace Sir Win Bischoff as chairman of Citigroup. [Reuters]
♦ Steve Rattner is shutting down the Quadrangle Group's hedge fund amid weak performance and investor redemptions. [WSJ]
♦ Phil Falcone, Ken Griffin, John Paulson, Jim Simons and George Soros will appear in front of a House panel today. [DB]
♦ Hank Paulson is taking a beating following the news that the Treasury will now focus on struggling consumers, instead of financial institutions. Paulson has become "a reduced figure, damaged by the financial-market meltdown that happened on his watch and by the government's struggles to respond to it." [WSJ, DB, Bloomberg]

The national debt now stands at $10.6 trillion and the federal government needs to borrow at least $1 trillion a year to keep the country in business. What's the Treasury Department going to come up with that kind of cash? Maybe Hank Paulson was on to something when he delivered a press conference this morning and positioned himself next to a gleaming bottle of refreshing Dasani water. Now Barack Obama just needs to tap a marketing guru and cut a few high-profile endorsement deals. The giant image if the Geico gekko on the side of the White House won't be pretty, but at least you'll have a job to go to tomorrow!

♦ American Express may be looking for as much as $3.5 billion in government assistance as the company struggles with reduced consumer spending and rising defaults. [WSJ]
♦ Hope is fading fast at GM. Shares fell to $2.92 on Tuesday, the lowest level in 65 years, and the company does not expect "to continue as a going concern" without a rescue plan in place by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing ahead with a plan to save the automaker. [NYT, Bloomberg]
♦ Who doesn't want a piece of the bailout? The line outside the Treasury Department in Washington is a long one. [NYT]

The news just gets worse and worse for AIG. A day after the insurance giant asked for another $40 billion in government aid, it was revealed that the company sent execs on yet another lavish trip to a Phoenix resort last week and tried to conceal its role in sponsoring the event. Resist the urge to get angry: Most of the attendees will probably be unemployed in a few weeks. As for senior management, they'd be well-advised to get in as much pool and spa time now, since as far as we know even the most luxurious minimum-security prisons don't have them. [ABC News]