Feb. 12--Four months after billions of taxpayer dollars began pouring into many of the country's banks, Michigan has yet to see any major tangible benefits from the government bailout program.

Only five of the 169 Michigan-based banks have received any money. Several community banks have opted not to participate in the program because of its cost and restrictions. And the large national and regional banks that got the most money aren't able to show that they've used the money to increase lending in the state.

The ineffectiveness of the bailout nationwide has stirred public anger, and on Wednesday, members of Congress grilled top executives of many of the country's largest banks. "America doesn't trust you anymore," Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., told bankers.

In Michigan, experts said that unless things change, the money won't significantly help businesses and consumers obtain loans as the government intended.

"It could help in pockets" of the state, said Don Mann, a former longtime banking regulator who is the regulatory liaison for the Michigan Association of Community Bankers.

Dozens of community banks with less than a billion dollars in assets "haven't seen a nickel," he said. "That's the lifeblood of Michigan."

A prolonged credit crisis would harm Michigan companies. An executive with one longtime parts maker in Plymouth couldn't get a loan for equipment. The company wound up having to borrow money from the equipment supplier. The company's bank has raised the interest rate on the company's loan and required the owner to personally guarantee the loan.

These conditions are "handcuffing us from growing the business to just maintaining it," said the supplier's owner, who did not want to be identified for fear of jeopardizing his relationship with the bank.

The inability to borrow means "some companies simply won't make it," said Larry Gardner, who runs a Troy consulting firm that assists companies with restructurings and mergers.

He knows of one auto supplier with little long-term debt and good balance sheet that has been waiting since early December to hear whether it will be approved for a bank loan.

Lending conditions are "tight and will remain tight," said Michael Semanco, president of Hennessey Capital LLC, a Huntington Woods specialty finance company. "Conservatism is kind of running the playbook."

No accountability

To get loans flowing again, the U.S. Treasury Department in October launched a $250-billion Capital Purchase Program, part of its Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. So far, it has injected $195 billion into 359 financial institutions in 45 states and Puerto Rico.