PR claims Wells Fargo is "saving" taxpayer funds. That is a specious argument.

Unless Citi left valuable assets on the table in their deal, Wells Fargo's offer would seem to save the FDIC money at least.  It would appear that Citi was trying to cheery pick here and Wells saw value it was willing to pay for.  While current FDIC funds come from bank fees, with the pending increase of guarantees to $250,000 and pending bank take-overs, anything that preserves FDIC reserves would seem, quite likely, to save future taxpayer's funds.  Has Citi put up funds for Wachovia which it might lose?  Else why would this cause international investors to balk at future deals?

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."