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The Congressional Budget Office has new numbers out:

In a new report released this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) trimmed how much it expected the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) would eventually cost taxpayers. It now expects that when all is said and done, the program will cost $32 billion, down $2 billion from its December estimate.

That projection is rosier than even the White House's. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) currently pegs the cost of the bailout at $68 billion, driven largely by greater expectations about the costs of the government's housing relief programs — OMB estimates $30 billion more than does the CBO on how much will be spent on those programs.

CBO attributed its reduction to the fact that the government's remaining $50 billion investment in American International Group (AIG) had gained value.

The $85 billion bailout of AIG was by far the most egregious of all the bailouts, and you can read the skinny on that travesty here. At least the CBO thinks that it's not going to cost us $85 billion in the end. Is that true, though? At least we have this windfall:

While TARP is most often decried as a bailout to big banks, the portion of the program that actually targeted financial institutions is reaping a windfall for the government. After buying up $205 billion in stock from roughly 800 financial institutions during the crisis, as well as throwing another $40 billion just at bank titans Citigroup and Bank of America, the CBO estimates the government will turn a $25 billion profit on that portion.

And while we're at it, let's look at the costs of the other bailouts, shall we?

But strictly from the perspective of dollars and cents, the CBO expects the auto bailout to cost taxpayers roughly $19 billion. General Motors and Chrysler have already paid off $35 billion in government aid, but $37 billion remains outstanding. The government has already written off $7 billion in its effort to keep the industry afloat.

When TARP was crafted, $75 billion was set aside to help struggling homeowners modify their mortgages. Those efforts have came up short, with just $3 billion outstanding. The CBO estimates another $13 billion will go out the door under the program, and since those funds were never expected to be paid back, will end up costing the government $16 billion.

When will it end? When will it end...?

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