Is TARP Working? Warren: Who Knows?
EmailABC News’ Dean Norland reports:
Professor Elizabeth Warren, the chair of the oversight panel that Congress created to monitor the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was asked today if the group she heads has revealed to the American public whether TARP was actually working.
Warren’s answer was sobering: “We can’t disclose what isn’t known. We’ve disclosed as much as we can, we’ve addressed this in our various reports. The Secretary of the Treasury says there are some positive indicators and there some negative indicators still in the economy. And that’s the best we can do.”
“We can see changes, we try to document those and we try to point out where their continue to be weaknesses,” she continued. “You know this isn’t resolved yet, congressman. I’m sorry, it’s just not. We’re still in mid-crisis and there are both up arrows and down arrows.”
Warren was more positive about the stress tests used to measure the health of bank holding companies, but said they should be repeated as long as the banks continue to hold large amounts of toxic assets on their books.
“The good news is that the stress test was designed to bring the off-balance sheet vehicles back and include them. I think that that the stress test without that would have been a non-starter,” she testified.
But then she cautioned, “I hope that everything has been included. I have to say these are self-reported numbers.
In a bid for more transparency, Warren told the Joint Economic Committee that Treasury should release more details of their methodology about how the stress tests were performed so outside analysts could check the results independently.
While she would like more even more information from the Treasury Department, there has been better cooperation since Secretary Hank Paulson left office.
“We had a Treasury Department that was not forthcoming with information. That has changed,” she said.
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Of course they’ll say they don’t know…..they’d only be telling the truth if they said it WAS NOT working. Oh whatever, obamabots will believe whatever and throw away any rational thought when faced with their dear leader.
Posted by: afkbrad | June 9, 2009, 3:18 pm 3:18 pm
Tarp was a loan program and will probably end up making money. WILL the PRESS reduce the deficit number of Bush as the money comes BACK into the fed coffers? OF COURSE not because Bush is evil and Obama is some sort of GOD even though
the 1.6 TRILLION Obama is BLOWING is wont ever come back and is nothing but a crazy SPEND SPEND SPEND package that will cause a TRILLION dollar a year interest payment on the debt.
Imagine that! A TRILLION dollars a year of money that wont feed or help anyone that will have to be confiscated from EVERY American to pay for Obamanomics.
AROGANT FOOLS destroying the country.
Posted by: ChicagBob | June 9, 2009, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm
The GOP just hates to admit that all the revisions the DEMs made to everything they had in place improved and continues to improve America.
TARP is wroking because of the Oversight and Stress Tests and overall DEMOCRATIC handling. Cant say that for the first half that the republicans screwed up
Posted by: Javon | June 9, 2009, 3:54 pm 3:54 pm
TARP is a cover. It was a gift to Wall Street to use the money to push-up stocks (up 40% in a few months). These bankers made a quick 40%, and now they give the money back. Get in. Get out. Wall Street and Washington are scratching each others backs, while covering reality under a giant TARP. Sickening how the rich and powerful protect the rich and powerful
Posted by: michele | June 9, 2009, 4:00 pm 4:00 pm
Take a look at the economic landscape now compared to when Obama took office. Even the dunderhead Warren should admit that he has dramatically improved things.
Posted by: matt | June 9, 2009, 4:06 pm 4:06 pm
Thanks President Obama and Democrats for doing good so far with the Economy and slowly digging us out of the Bush/Republican Hole they dug Great Job Dems!
Posted by: Angie in PA | June 9, 2009, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm
Nobody knows….we need more regulators. Then we need more regulators to make sure the first layer of regulators are doing their jobs. Then we need another layer of regulators to make sure the second layer of regulators are properly checking on the original regulators. If all these regulators are in place our tax dollars will be spend fraud free although I am not sure we can afford all these regulators. The alternative is to listen to Ron Paul and set the free market free for once.
Posted by: Huh | June 9, 2009, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
Everything Obama does is a failure. A complete and utter disgrace to America. Hows that stimulus working? Higher unemployment. That would be a yahtzee.
Posted by: Collins | June 9, 2009, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
“Thanks President Obama and Democrats for doing good so far with the Economy and slowly digging us out of the Bush/Republican Hole they dug Great Job Dems!”
Hey Angie,
Since when is digging a BIGGER Hole considered digging yourself out?
Oh, let me guess… you one of those Libbies who still think the BIG DIG was a success story!
Posted by: Mike_C | June 9, 2009, 4:15 pm 4:15 pm
Angie,
Look to your west and drive out to Columbus, OH. Ask them how those 25 cops are doing who were supposed to be “saved” by the great “STIMULATOR”!
Seems as if a heavy dose of real world reality collided with Obamanomics. Unless the gov’t gives them more money, or they … RAISE TAXES in Columbus, these guys will have NO job!
Seems as though Obamanomics wants to look at the world in these 100 day windows…..WOW, if i keep my job for a year, Obama can count my job as saved 3 TIMES!!!!
Posted by: Mike_C | June 9, 2009, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
All of us, at one time or another has known someone to “play up” a crisis that they “know how to fix”. Politicians; Senators, Congressmen Presidents all do it, overstate the crisis for political gain. Sure there were problems and the simple fact was that we were and are broke but in order for us not to feel too much pain and to keep the unions, the rich and powerful- rich and powerful, the Government is simply borrowing from future generations and in doing so will make our future earning worth much less.
This “crisis” was a means to grab power; nothing more, nothing less.
Posted by: david | June 9, 2009, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
Javon –”The GOP just hates to admit that all the revisions the DEMs made to everything they had in place improved and continues to improve America.”—
Really, and you base this on what?
The fact that unemployment continues to climb and is now at a 26 year high, that if you use the same methodology for unemploymnet figures that were used to show Bush’s 6% unemployment figures were actaully over 9% (by adding the number of unemployed americans who have “fallen” off the roles with out ever regaining employment) then you get 15% unemployment for Obama..
Maybe its the fact that under this “improving economy” we are having record bankruptsies, that two major auto companies have gone under, that the government now owns banks and mortgage lenders to keep them afloat…
that we have spent more in the first 6 months than Bush did in his first 4 years. that the national debt that rose an additional 4.5 trillion during Bush’s 8 years is now projected to cimb and additional 13 trillion in Obama’s first 4 years..
Tell us all again how this administration is “improving” America.. we could all use a good laugh…
Posted by: arkie vet | June 9, 2009, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
Well I can tell you it aint workin 4 me. I cant even get our mortgage holder to lower our interest rate. We are paying 8 3/4%! They refuse to help us do anything to save our home and are in fact doing everything they can to make it impossible for us to keep up with the payments. I thought the idea of the Big Bank Bailout was so they could help people stay in their homes. Good thing I didnt believe the hype then cause I would have been really disappointed.
Posted by: Christine A Jubic | June 9, 2009, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm
Is TARP working? What a stupid question. Why not give it at least six months before weighing in with the negativity? Did anyone really expect the economy to be fixed like making a bowl of instant oatmeal? We are seeing signs of recovery every day but we did not get into this mess overnight and we will not get out overnight. Why not try helping the President for a change and shutting up for God’s sake.
Posted by: V. Brame | June 9, 2009, 6:47 pm 6:47 pm
V. Brame,
TARP has already had MORE than 6 months!
Get a calendar already!
Omamanomics….HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO!
Posted by: Mike_C | June 10, 2009, 9:51 am 9:51 am