thus that the united states gooft will bear any burden and pay any price to ensure citicorp does not fail. standard and poor's issued citigroup a rating of a, three grades higher than it would have rated the company, "to reflect the likelihood extraordinary government support were needed, it would be forth coming." in other words, citi is too big to fail and it is measurably affecting its credit rating. were it not for the market's view that citigroup enjoyed this implicit government guarantee, a view reenforced in dramatic fashion by the bailout this panel oversees, then it would be viewed as a riskier investment and frankly, it would cost citigroup more to do business. we will ask a number of questions today about how citigroup used the tax dollars it received and continues to hold today, and most importantly, what are treasuries and citigroup strategies for ensuring the american taxpayer will never again be asked to fund another bailout for this institution. to help the panel examine these issues, we will first hear from assistant secretary of the treasury for financial stability

thus that the united states gooft will bear any burden and pay any price to ensure citicorp does not fail. standard and poor's issued citigroup a rating of a, three grades higher than it would have rated the company, "to reflect the likelihood extraordinary government support were needed, it would be forth coming." in other words, citi is too big to fail and it is measurably affecting its credit rating. were it not for the market's view that citigroup enjoyed this implicit government guarantee, a view reenforced in dramatic fashion by the bailout this panel oversees, then it would be viewed as a riskier investment and frankly, it would cost citigroup more to do business. we will ask a number of questions today about how citigroup used the tax dollars it received and continues to hold today, and most importantly, what are treasuries and citigroup strategies for ensuring the american taxpayer will never again be asked to fund another bailout for this institution. to help the panel examine these issues, we will first hear from assistant secretary of the treasury for financial stability

thus that the united states gooft will bear any burden and pay any price to ensure citicorp does not fail. standard and poor's issued citigroup a rating of a, three grades higher than it would have rated the company, "to reflect the likelihood extraordinary government support were needed, it would be forth coming." in other words, citi is too big to fail and it is measurably affecting its credit rating. were it not for the market's view that citigroup enjoyed this implicit government guarantee, a view reenforced in dramatic fashion by the bailout this panel oversees, then it would be viewed as a riskier investment and frankly, it would cost citigroup more to do business. we will ask a number of questions today about how citigroup used the tax dollars it received and continues to hold today, and most importantly, what are treasuries and citigroup strategies for ensuring the american taxpayer will never again be asked to fund another bailout for this institution. to help the panel examine these issues, we will first hear from assistant secretary of the treasury for financial stability