More Chicken Littles in Congress find their heads
I noted last month that some Chicken Littles in Congress were beginning to rediscover their heads as the bailout debacle unfolded.
The flock is growing. Financial wunder-blogger Mish notes that congressional bickering may hinder Hank Paulson’s grab for the next helping of Crap Sandwich 2.0:
Two top U.S. lawmakers warned Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that he may not get the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue fund, joining Republicans upset with how the program is being managed.
“I would be a very hard person to convince that this crowd deserves to have their hands on the next $350 billion,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told reporters yesterday in Washington, referring to the Bush administration. “I am through with giving this crowd money to play with.”
“It looks like the only way Paulson could get the TARP money is to make a deal on foreclosure relief,” said Tom Gallagher, head of policy research at International Strategy and Investment Group in Washington.
Paulson, who has committed all but $20 billion of the first half of the funds, is also under fire for abandoning the original TARP plan to buy toxic mortgage assets. Under the terms of the law, lawmakers have 15 days to reject a request for the second half of the TARP funds.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank yesterday warned that Paulson may be blocked from accessing the money.
Better late than never.
Mish advises:
If Paulson does decline to ask for the second installment of $350 billion, and if you participated in the campaign to stop the bailout, this is what I want you to do: Go stand in front of a mirror and give yourself a bow. You helped prevent the waste of 350 billion taxpayer dollars.
The provision to split the $700 billion in two installments was added after the bailout bill failed to pass the first time. Had we not protested, $700 billion would already have been wasted.
Three cheers for “congressional bickering.”
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Fannie Mae: Brother Can You Spare $4.6 Billion?
February 29, 2012 01:58 PM by Doug Powers
42 CommentsObama’s new campaign candy: More mortgage aid, homeowner “bill of rights”
February 1, 2012 11:39 AM by Michelle Malkin
88 Comments
One cheer for the belated SEC lawuit against Fannie/Freddie execs
December 16, 2011 11:53 AM by Michelle Malkin
45 CommentsBailing out the world
November 30, 2011 09:35 AM by Michelle Malkin
131 CommentsBreaking: Barney Frank will not seek re-election
November 28, 2011 09:54 AM by Michelle Malkin
168 CommentsSnortalicious: Chicago corruptocrat/Fannie fat cat William Daley wears Occupier costume
October 17, 2011 01:56 PM by Michelle Malkin
20 Comments
Here are your 1 percent-ers: Obama’s bundlers
October 17, 2011 03:13 AM by Michelle Malkin
79 CommentsJohn McCain Understands the Frustrations of ‘Occupy Wall Street’
October 12, 2011 09:07 PM by Doug Powers
122 Comments
Categories: Subprime crisis
Twitchy
» Weaponized misogyny: Hustler punishes S.E. Cupp for pro-life views with explicit fake imageNewsBusters.org
» With a Straight Face, Matthews Spins: It's a 'Fact' That Obama Is Not a 'Reckless Spender'JustOneMinute
» Zimmerman Case - The Evolution of The EvidenceNice Deb
» Obama Promise Kept: Energy Prices Soon to Skyrocket from $16 per Megawatt to up to $357 per Megawatt
The cynic in me thinks it will only be a matter of time before they find another way to spend the $350B. They’re politicians; it’s what they do. Wasteful spending is all they know.
WELL IT’S ABOUT DANG TIME!!
But, I’ve already lost faith in them. It’s gonna take more than one good deed to get me back.
Somewhat ot but related, I saw the head of the FDIC on FOX stating that if they would just rescind the mark to market rule, things would get better. I was under the impression that it was part of the 450 page bill passed by the Senate as CS 1.0. Am I wrong?
I find it odd that the two people FINALLY questioning Paulson is Dodd and Frank.
The many faces of irony.
Yes, this is a good development… BUT, there is a new crap sandwich being wrapped and handed to the American people: the Auto Bailout.
Democrats have only found the financial “road to Damascus” on the TARP, because they need to redirect the funds to their union worker lackeys at the Big Three.
This one could be an even worse proposition.
how about this?
My name is hank Paulson, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.
Oh crap !!!
I understand what a good stance Dodd and Frank took. But, you’ll not see me taking them down from the hoist I will continue to have them on for their blatant fraud and negligence of the past.
I suspect Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank don’t want Paulson to spend the $350. I doubt they will care so much about how SecrTreas Geithner spends the money.
It’s a sad comment on the current state of affairs that Dodd and Frank are the Senate’s voices of spending restraint. Heaven help us.
It’s called CYA. And that doesn’t mean California Youth Authority.
They cause the entire fiasco and then state indignantly, in front of the cameras, it’s the fault of Paulson and that guy who picked him. Blame Boooosh for the entire financial mess!
These socialist hacks know exactly what they’re doing.
TooMuchTime
Exactly! It’s all such a freakin joke!
On December 5th, 2008 at 10:47 am, MNUSMCDavid said:
I understand what a good stance Dodd and Frank took. But, you’ll not see me taking them down from the hoist I will continue to have them on for their blatant fraud and negligence of the past.
Agree. They are directly responsible for the current financial crisis. They put their party before America to win an election. Can we say treasonous?
Bah, Dodd just wants to have those funds available for the Obama administration to administer.
That way, Paulson/Bush take all of the blame and Geithner/Obama get the credit for saving us from ourselves.
They are no voices of spending restraint. They just just dislike other people spending taxpayers’ money and their having no control over it.
See, they want the money to play with themselves to give to their own crowd.
BINGO….my thhoughts exactly.
When did you ever see Congress flinch at spending money? That’s what it does. That’s what it lives for!
PUSH
CALL
E-MAIL
Never give them a respite.
Be irritating.
Be confrontational.
Be in their faces ever day.
Be consistent.
It’s been stated (above) that the irony of the likes of Chris Dodd and Barney Frank overseeing this bailout — much less criticizing anyone — is absolutely stunning!
These two thieves should be under scrutiny themselves, not scrutinizing some other potential felons.
Irony and hypocrisy thy name is Congress.
This is why bipartisanship is never a good idea! Our forefathers had it correct. The more they bicker the safer our money is.
So, the democrats only had to spend $350 billion of taxpayer money to buy Obama the presidency instead of $700 billion?
I suppose I should be more grateful that the guvment was so generous to leave me with something so I could feed my kids…
With those who said this is a delay to provide Obama the money, I agree.
ACORN must need a bailout.
They haven’t found their heads. They are looking for a way to stick everything they can to the Bush administration so that all of Obama’s failures to control the economy can result in more Bush bashing.
who was responsible for the great depression, hoover or rooseveldt. this is nothing more than making sure bush is blamed in the history books, while obama will again be the democrat hero fixing the horrible problem. my opinion is that the democrats and the media caused this problem by telling us ad nauseum over the last 2 years that the economy was the worst in 50 years. now it might be true, but it sure wasn’t last summer or a year ago.
I can’t believe Dodd is saying anything considering he and that communist Frank caused this financial crisis by forcing banks to make loans to those who clearly couldn’t repay them. He should find a rock and hide under it until hell freezes over.
Translation: I didn’t get enough campaign money or kickbacks from them yet, so all bets are off until they ‘show me the money.’
…and evil corruption.
let’s now hope congress can bicker its way away from passing amnesty for illegal aliens.
Seems one other aspect of Government bailouts and handouts ought to be, if you get government financing/support you ought to be prevented from contributing back to the politicians that have provided you the handouts. This applies to CEOs and unions of bailouts, as well as farmers who get big chunks of change for growing corn or growing nothing at all. As most anyone can see, without a firewall to prevent a large portion of ‘welfare’ coming back to buy politicians for more of the same, there’s no end to this sort of garbage.
FYI, as far as I’m concerned, this ought to also apply to individual welfare benefit handouts, but then that’s just me.
If you want to contribute to the political process, you are free to do so, just don’t take government handouts and you should be good to go.
Semi-related…
John Kyl on High Hewitt’s show says he supports Chapter 11 reorganization of the Big 3 rather than a bailout. Hewitt, from an auto town in Ohio originally, claimed that would doom them because nobody would trust their warranties and buy their cars during the year or so they were renegotiating crushing union contracts.
Kyl said he’d support, in that case, a Federally backed guarantee for the automakers warranty programs.
If the Big 3 survived reorganization, it wouldn’t cost the government a cent.
Kyl says a bridge loan or stap gap 15 or 20 billion dollars won’t fix the structural problems of the Big 3, and he is right.
Something you might enjoy reading
http://thecitytroll.blogspot.com/2008/12/leadership-of-republican-party-are.html
And I am tired of sending my money to Washington so people like this dingleberry can “play with it”.
Perhaps if Dodd were a little more concerned about money being played with a few years ago, we would not be in this mess.
Yeah it is odd, hearing surrendercrats sounding fiscally responsible.
Where were they since at least 2000 when every spending bill that came up in Congress was larded up with billions more in pork?
Spending bills for Iraq? Billions added in pork.
Spending bills for Katrina? Billions more in pork.
How many earmarks were in each and every bill passed?
What has Congress done to make this process more open? other than scheme for ways to get around any accountability?