Dec. 26--Umpqua Bank enjoyed an early Christmas in October when the federal government stuffed $214 million of taxpayer money into its holiday stocking.

Two months later, questions about the U.S. Treasury's mammoth bank bailout are still unanswered:

Has the money done any good? Has the hefty price tag -- now running at somewhere around $400 billion -- alleviated the dearth of bank funding that has helped bring the U.S. economy to a near standstill?

To some who have spent time in recent months trying to renegotiate troubled loan deals, the answer to both questions is a resounding no.

"It appears that the (Treasury) money hasn't loosened up credit at all in what I see," said Brent Summers, a Portland attorney who specializes in construction and creditor-debtor issues. "I wish one of the banks that got the bailout money could show me that that it has been used for anything other than mergers and acquisitions."

Indeed, since Treasury unveiled its Troubled Asset Recovery Program, or TARP, in September, the economy is worse off in some ways. The stock market continues to fall, unemployment is up, and the economy is still hamstrung by a stubborn credit crisis.

Battered by the real estate bust, many banks have pulled in their horns while they deal with portfolios full of nonperforming loans.

The Treasury has responded with unprecedented cash injections from TARP. In return for the taxpayer cash, the Treasury gets preferred stock in the various banks, plus interest payments.

If the program works, the banks survive and resume lending, while the Treasury makes money on its preferred stock.

But critics have blasted the program as a mammoth giveaway with virtually no strings attached, and little oversight or transparency.

The Treasury said Tuesday that it had decided to inject an additional $2.8 billion in 92 banks around the country. None were in Oregon or Washington.

Portland-based Umpqua is a healthy, profitable bank. When Umpqua cut the deal with the feds in October, it didn't need money to survive, Umpqua CEO Ray Davis said at the time.

Ron Farnsworth, Umpqua executive vice president, said Monday that the Treasury money has enabled the bank to continue making loans. Umpqua originated about $400 million in new loans in the current quarter, about the same as it did in its second and third quarters.

The $214 million became part of Umpqua's capital, which it manages in the aggregate. "It's hard to detail out exactly where it went," Farnsworth said. "But generally speaking, the TARP money ensured that the new loan pipeline continued open."

One place the TARP money is not going is to Umpqua's shareholders. The bank's parent company last week cut its quarterly dividend paid to shareholders from 19 to 5 cents a share. Deteriorating economic conditions, which have reduced earnings, prompted the dividend cut, Farnsworth said.

Umpqua isn't the only bank with major presences in the Northwest to receive TARP money.

Capital Pacific Bank, a small Portland institution, got $4 million.

Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America collectively received $46.6 billion from the government.

Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank, a significant lender to residential developers in the Portland area, got $303 million earlier this month. Banner Bank of Walla Walla, which also has a significant Portland presence, got $124 million in November.

Doug Bayne, Banner's director of marketing, said the bank wants badly to loan out the money it received. But it has been tough to make loans, in part because Banner is receiving fewer credit applications.

Some would-be borrowers are not even asking, apparently assuming they would be rejected, Bayne said.

"When you get inundated with so much negativity . . . it's a tough time out there," Bayne said. "But we are open for business."

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