By the way, you know that big bank bailout that the pundits and Tea Party are still screaming about as an example of government waste and increasing the debt?
It turns out that the Troubled Asset Relief Program has actually made money for the government — $25.2 billion actually. That’s a 8.2% return over two years (more than what US Treasury bonds pay, although that comparison is a bit dicey since the TARP investment was presumably a bit more risky than US bonds).
And in the name of fairness, I want to point out that many of the people who were complaining about the TARP program blamed it on Obama, when the program was established in October 2008, before Obama was even elected. It is ironic that now that the program is considered to be a success, their efforts might mean that Obama will get the credit for it.
Naw… That will never happen. I’m sure they will now hypocritically trumpet TARP as something the Republicans did right.
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Now IK, I believe you even schooled me saying it was a Bush initiative when the complaints were runnig high. Actually, if I recall, the Bush admin invited then candidate’s Obama, and McCain to DC to get their input on the program and BOTH agreed it was necessary. So, there you have it, both parties can take credit and blame. LOL
Agreed, it was a mutual decision and it is beyond hypocritical for Republicans to try and “blame” Obama for TARP. I am thrilled that the taxpayers ended up making a profit on the deal. And I wonder, for all the talk of the “failed” stimulus, if anyone that claims it “failed” would rather have been held accountable for what would have happened if it had NOT been passed.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Anyone with a real idea or a real plan should be looking forward, not backward.
If GM had not been bailed out there would have been how many hundreds of thousands more unemployed? So for anyone to say the bailouts and/or stimulus did nothing is naive at best. Even if there have not been enough jobs created, don’t the jobs that were saved count?
But BAILOUTS goes so well with CZARS and TAXES when you need BIG LOUD WORDS that sound like they’re GOOD THINGS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT