Summary Box: Herb Allison, head of $700 billion government bailout program, stepping down

Summary Box: Head of TARP bailout effort resigns

BAILOUT HEAD: Herb Allison, the head of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout program, announced Wednesday that he is resigning.

TARP ATTACKS: The program, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was widely criticized as a rescue effort for wealthy bankers at a time when unemployment was soaring and people were losing their homes to foreclosures.

GEITHNER DEFENSE: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said TARP succeeded in stabilizing the banking system and will end up costing, by one estimate, around $66 billion, much less than the initial projections.