So the article doesn't paint the full picture, though it's close. Both Repubs and Dems "prevented" the FDIC from collecting premiums from banks. Repubs because they are opposed to the system of, golly gee, having the industry pay for insurance premiums (on the premise that good banks shouldn't pay for bad banks...they seem not to understand the whole insurance thing or the systemic risk of a bank run propagating throughout the system). Dems because they didn't want small community (and minority-owned) banks to pay for premiums when there were larger, wealthier banks who could shoulder the full brunt. Donald Powell, Bush's nominee to the FDIC in 2002, accommodated the political wishes of Washington as they aligned with his own of reducing the regulatory force of the FDIC (his one notable policy statement: index the insured level of $100,000 to inflation). How was he going to pay for that? Didn't need to, everything was rosy back then. Banks weren't failing every week.
The only banks paying into the FDIC reserve fund were national and large regional banks. Funnily enough, most of the banks that the FDIC directly regulates (as opposed to merely being the insurer of deposits) haven't paid premiums for the timeline given by the article. Most banks paying into the fund are regulated by OTS (the gutless wonder allowing CC companies to rape you and WAMU to blow up), OCC, or the Fed.
The memo sent out by Sheila Bair on March 2nd (entitled, Important Message from FDIC Chairman Bair for Bank CEOs on Assessments) gently reminds all banks that as the consumer of insurance they should pay an assessment (premiums) for the product. Like you pay Progressive for your car insurance...crazy notion, I know.
FDIC has been getting a ton of pushback from banks, small and large, that this is not the time for premiums. Better yet, they would like to see the public through the use of bailout funds contribute to the reserve.
If anyone saw 60 Minutes' piece on the FDIC last week, you saw an example of how the fund is being rapidly depleted. Heritage Community Bank in IL, was "sold" to MB Financial for the price of the FDIC entering into a loss-share agreement where the FDIC is responsible for 80% of loan losses. When you have few to no buyers, you do what you can!
Or you sell loan portfolios to PennyMac, run by former Countrywide execs, for pennies on the dollar. Welcome to your new overlords, same as your old ones.
