Sources: Obama Administration To Extend TARP to October 2010
EmailJake Tapper, Charles Herman, and Matt Jaffe report:
ABC News has learned that tomorrow the Obama administration is expected to announce it is extending the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, until October 2010, with the purpose of using it to free up credit for small businesses to expand and for homeowners to secure their mortgages through the Obama administration housing program.
TARP became law in October 2008 and as of now is set to expire on December 31, 2009.
The Secretary of the Treasury has the power to extend the program if he sees fit, though he has to notify Congress.
President Obama said today that “because of our stewardship” of TARP, “and the transparency and accountability we put in place, TARP is expected to cost the taxpayer at least $200 billion less than what was anticipated just this summer.” He said “this gives us a chance to pay down the deficit faster than we thought possible and to shift funds that would have gone to help the banks on Wall Street to help create jobs on Main Street.”
The president said on Monday while the administration needs to hew to the purpose of TARP in any new disbursements, small and medium size businesses “cannot get the loans they need to make capital adjustments that would allow them to expand employment. and so that's a particular area where we might be able to make a difference.”
But Republicans on Capitol Hill have challenged this idea, making it all but certain that they will object to the Obama administration move tomorrow to extend TARP.
“For this President or this Democratic Congress to proposing using TARP funds for anything other than deficit reduction is simply a violation of the law,” Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, told ABC News.
National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers told ABC News Tuesday afternoon that “that’s a real misunderstanding of TARP legislation. The TARP legislation statement and intentions that the administration set up provided explicitly for support for small business lending under TARP.”
-Jake Tapper, Charles Herman, and Matt Jaffe
Can Mitt Romney Win Conservatives Back? 
Possible Contraception Compromise in D.C.
Republicans: Create jobs!! Help main street!
Democrats: Ok
Republicans: Uhh uhhhh uhh it’s against the law.
Democrats: Goodbye GOP.
Posted by: Baha | December 8, 2009, 6:41 pm 6:41 pm
Here we go again. Obama is now going to waste the money left over from TARP. Did his plan to help homeowners keep their homes from foreclosure work ? NO. This is another scam by the Obama administration.
Posted by: CW | December 8, 2009, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
Why not . . . the poor sick Republic is broke anyway so what does it matter that Diamond Jim Obama wants to spend more funny money.
Posted by: rplat | December 8, 2009, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
Crook, fraud,communist,liar, and moron. Does Obama have any positive attributes beside teleprompter reader?
Posted by: Sendthemtojail | December 8, 2009, 6:48 pm 6:48 pm
Crook, fraud,communist,liar, and moron. Does Obama have any positive attributes beside teleprompter reader?
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More juvenile name calling and insult as intelligent political comment.
The right wing is sinking in its own filth.
Posted by: tierra | December 8, 2009, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
So WHY did they pass TARP in the first place if Wall St. doesn’t need it! Why aren’t they taking that money back to the taxpayer. Hell they only dished out 20% of the 1st stimulus, before passing the second. Now they are taking taxpayer money to buy up “toxic assets” and SURPRISE! NOT buying up those “toxic assets!!!”
Either somebody was/is LYING and defrauding the taxpayer… OR they decided to use the money as a slush fund to dole out to whoever they see fit, using the economy as their excuse to pay off politcal friends of the Obama administration, and leaving the country at risk of Depression! Government has become a bipartisan JOKE, that leeches off of the taxpayer to bailout and give welfare to the rich who don’t need it (let alone DON’T pay taxes), and the political friends of those in Congress and the White House.
If their EVER was a reason to vote against every single incumbent in every race in the upcoming election, I don’t know what else you need?
Posted by: jafo | December 8, 2009, 7:01 pm 7:01 pm
Republicans: Create jobs!! Help main street!
Democrats: Ok
Republicans: Uhh uhhhh uhh it’s against the law.
Democrats: Goodbye GOP.
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Exactly, one minute they’re whining ‘help small business, create jobs, create jobs’ – the next they’re whining ‘you’re helping small business!’
Republicans, the party of ‘no’ and ‘whine’. People are seeing through it.
Posted by: tierra | December 8, 2009, 7:02 pm 7:02 pm
Let er rip republicans – after all I’ve heard is he’s done nothing to help this economy or jobs. I’m sure you’ll sing a different tune now.
Posted by: Secondlook | December 8, 2009, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm
Its about time that obama is thinking like a republican with helping the small business’ and giving tax breaks. That must be killing the libs that he is adopting conservatives view with his economic strategy and deploying more troops in Afganistan.
Posted by: Sara | December 8, 2009, 7:43 pm 7:43 pm
Please try to remember the greater the deficet, the less your dollar buys. I might be wrong but I think the government should stop buying foreign made products with tax payers money and make it manditory to purchase only American made products unless there are none available. I think NAFTA is killing us. I am retired and doing ok but I see so many around me losing their jobs and needing help.
Posted by: fudgenut | December 8, 2009, 7:46 pm 7:46 pm
Its about time that obama is thinking like a republican with helping the small business’ and giving tax breaks.
Posted by: Sara | Dec 8, 2009 7:43:08 PM
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The Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains $288 BILLION in tax relief for individuals and businesses. It gives tax relief to approximately 95% of Americans.
It was enacted back in February or so. Paying attention?
Posted by: tierra | December 8, 2009, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm
At what cost to the small businesses will the Gov’t loan them money? Salary caps? Buy American requirements? Unionization of workforce? Require employers to subsidise health care for workers? Living wages for employees?
After seeing what Team O did for finance & auto industries, and what it hopes to do to the medical and insurance business, not to mention energy, only a complete fool would ‘get into bed with these sharks’. When the mob does it, they call it a bust-out, when the gov’t does it we call it a ‘stimulus’!
Posted by: N2vip | December 8, 2009, 8:16 pm 8:16 pm
After seeing what Team O did for finance & auto industries
_________________________________
What did they do?
Posted by: tierra | December 8, 2009, 8:23 pm 8:23 pm
LOL …. Geeze! What’s with the “right-whiners”?
First, the President takes their side in regards to Afghanistan, and decides to send more troops. Then what do the “right-whiners” do? COMPLAIN that he set a “show-progress-or-we’re-out” date.
Then, the “right-whiners” COMPLAIN, he’s not doing enough to help small buisnesses So the President decides to use TARP funds for small businesses, rather than Wall Street.
… and what do the “right-whiners” do again?…. LOL …. you guessed it, “COMPLAIN”.
Hard to please those “L”osers, isn’t it?
…hehehe.
Posted by: X-Republican Because of Bush | December 8, 2009, 8:35 pm 8:35 pm
We still have some of the 700 billion we stole so we have to use it !!!!!!!!
Posted by: Keith | December 8, 2009, 8:59 pm 8:59 pm
When the deficit grows it reduces the value of the dollar. When we reduce the value of the dollar,our interest rate increases on the money we have borrowed.We need to lower the deficit,cut business and corporate taxes so businesses can grow and rehire,or cretae new jobs,and get the government out of the Business side of everything.
Posted by: stormerF2 | December 8, 2009, 9:27 pm 9:27 pm
Tarp! More Tarp? I can’t believe it. These people are nuts.
Posted by: LongT | December 8, 2009, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm
Wow, I am sure glad we had a $787 Billion dollar stimulus!
Posted by: pauldia | December 8, 2009, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm
This is a very dangerous man.
Posted by: LongT | December 8, 2009, 9:33 pm 9:33 pm
I really don’t like the ‘man’.
Posted by: LongT | December 8, 2009, 9:35 pm 9:35 pm
Rebulican ‘filth’? What a bunch of huha@! If you guys even had a clue we wouldn’t be argueing.
Posted by: LongT | December 8, 2009, 9:38 pm 9:38 pm
Personally, I’ll go in and vote all out.
Posted by: LongT | December 8, 2009, 9:39 pm 9:39 pm
If the Babbler In Chief wants to increase jobs for Americans, the place to start is with all those jobs currently being held by illegal aliens: Factory jobs, roofing, drywalling, painting, all jobs once held by U.S. citizens and now held by people who have no right being here. Let’s go Bab, start at START.
Posted by: Ron | December 8, 2009, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
Not everyone who opposes the President is a “right winger”. To those who call the Republican party the party of “no” then maybe you should remember that just like children our elected officals need to say “no” once in awhile. The way the Democrats are spending money they need to hear the word “no” once in awhile. This nation is broke and spending money we don’t have is not going to solve our problems. People are hurting and in need of a JOB–and until this adminstration gets that and does something to help the unemployment rate (not through government jobs either) then it has been a complete failure to what was promised to the American tax paying citizens.
Posted by: right side of my mind | December 8, 2009, 9:47 pm 9:47 pm
This guy is like a bad dream, he keeps comin’ back worse and worse each time….wake me when it’s over.
Posted by: CC | December 8, 2009, 9:57 pm 9:57 pm
You have to love the President’s comments today about TARP. He basically said that TARP was a Republican thing and was rushed to passage without a lot of debate.
LOL – now this is genuinely funny.
President Obama was Senator and Candidate Obama at the time and President Bush made sure that he and Senator McCain were fully apprised of the circumstances and their proposed solution. He signed off on it as Senator and publicly endorsed it as Candidate. So did McCain. They both had the unique opportunity at the time to have objected and the whole world would have listened. Obama didn’t – he signed off on it pure and simple.
A few months later it was President Obama that force fed us his Stimulus plan: he didn’t give anyone the opportunity to even as much read the Bill much less open it for debate. We had to get ‘er done before unemployment went stupid high! (you know, above 8%) It was steamrolled through Congress and to his desk in what has to be one of the fastest signings in the history of Bills. He didn’t bother to extend half the courtesy that Bush extended to him to the Republicans.
And, now he criticizes TARP as having been rushed through passage without a lot of thought. Then he proposes to extend it – LOL
The behavior of this President and his administration is laughable. My guess is he is going to eventually take the position that he didn’t write the Stimulus Bill but turned it over to the heads of Congress (Pelosi and Reid). He could easily say that he was new to the job and wanted to be a team player. After his comments today about TARP I don’t think it is a stretch to expect this President to plead the fifth on his own economic policies. LOL
Posted by: Lone Star Rules | December 8, 2009, 9:58 pm 9:58 pm
You have to love the President’s comments today about TARP. He basically said that TARP was a Republican thing and was rushed to passage without a lot of debate.
LOL – now this is genuinely funny.
++++++++++++++++
Agree with the above blogger.
This man is naive in terms of governing yet he is very cunning and dangerous in term of attacking his opponents – in forms of PERSONAL DESTRUCTION. This is something we saw/experienced under communism.
Posted by: talk from sf | December 8, 2009, 10:42 pm 10:42 pm
People are hurting and in need of a JOB–and until this adminstration gets that and does something to help the unemployment rate
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Have you not been paying attention? Your fellow right wingers have been complaining about Obama announcing programs to do just that – today.
Posted by: tierra | December 8, 2009, 11:59 pm 11:59 pm
So let me get this straight. Liberal Democrats are mad because they have the House, Senate and White House, and the OPPOSITION party isn’t going along.
Funny, but I remember when the Democrats had the Senate in 2001 and the majority of Americans AGAINST the war(s) and what happened then? Oh yeah, they voted to give Bush authorization for bombing/invading Afghanistan AND Iraq which had nothing to do with 911!
TARP, the bailouts, the Wars ALL have had bipartisan support from the Democrats, so I think your vitriol better be served where it belongs… Namely Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the lemmings from your own party who couldn’t stand up to somebody as clueless and pathetic as GW Bush.
Not one, but TWO terms. Any moron can win/fix one, but TWO! If that isn’t referendum on the failure of the Democrats to stand up for America, let alone their own platform, then nothing is.
STOP complaining! The biggest obstacle to your agenda IS this White House and Obama… He sold out the Progressives a LONG time ago… Can’t you wake the heck up and hold these corrupt Judas Goats accountable for their actions (and lies) just ONCE! My God!!!
Posted by: jafo | December 9, 2009, 1:33 am 1:33 am
Why don’t we just pile up a bunch of cash from tax dollars and light it on fire to keep us warm. It would at least serve a function. Wait… it would probably contribute to global warming. That won’t work. Never mind.
Posted by: AnimalFarmUSA | December 9, 2009, 2:04 am 2:04 am
This man is naive in terms of governing yet he is very cunning and dangerous in term of attacking his opponents – in forms of PERSONAL DESTRUCTION. This is something we saw/experienced under communism.
Posted by: talk from sf | Dec 8, 2009 10:42:59 PM
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it’s something we saw started by the right wing the day Bill Clinton took office and the train hasn’t slowed since. It’s driven such a deep divide in this country there is little chance that anyone will ever cooperate again.
Posted by: dk | December 9, 2009, 2:32 am 2:32 am
X-Repub; Who will you be today? Rambo? 007? Or just the same old phoney?
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 6:05 am 6:05 am
“Who will you be today? Rambo? 007? Or just the same old phoney?” [SIC]
Well, he’s not going to be some cowhand- clearing brush on the range. He’s not going to be posing under any “Mission Accomplished” banners. He’s not going to be Stallone or Brosnan.
He’s going to tell you like it is. Which is something that the NeoCons don’t seem to be able to take.
He’s going to tell you that you are not living in a Rambo or 007 movie – that the world is a difficult place and the answers are not found in the bottom of a crackerjack box.
If you are capable of understanding the geo-politics of the 21st Century than you might have some grasp of what he will tell you.
But if you come looking for a simple black-and-white glossy of a solution than you are going home without a clue.
Posted by: OB-Wan222 | December 9, 2009, 6:29 am 6:29 am
“This man is naive in terms of governing yet he is very cunning and dangerous in term of attacking his opponents – in forms of PERSONAL DESTRUCTION. This is something we saw/experienced under communism.”
And its something that we experienced under Richard Nixon. Funny how the right-wing in the US and the dictators of the right and left around the world always adopt the same methods.
Posted by: OB-Wan222 | December 9, 2009, 6:39 am 6:39 am
Nice to extend TARP, of course the rich need and deserve all the socialism they can get – how about extending COBRA and the ARRA assistance for those laid off and unable to find a job with benefits? COBRA in the North East can be as much as $1600-$1700/month for family coverage. Try paying that while looking for a job and feeding your family on (soon to run out) unemployment checks…
Posted by: NovShmozKaPop | December 9, 2009, 6:43 am 6:43 am
tierra; you are the type that never really fixes stuff, are you.
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 6:51 am 6:51 am
That’s right, you just keep blowing that money Obama . . . before long we’ll all be in the soup line and living on the streets. This poor sick Republic is quickly evolving into the largest third world country on the planet.
Posted by: rplat | December 9, 2009, 6:56 am 6:56 am
I guess they haven’t got to all the payback. Politics at it’s finest. Chicago Chicago it’s my kind of town…..
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 6:56 am 6:56 am
The problem with Obama is he’s running his deal in the wrong country. Most people in the US are used to personal freedom…Oh wait! A whole new generation….um…maybe not.
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 6:59 am 6:59 am
I think Obama has a plan. The plan is to bankrupt the country from within. With all his supporters, it might work. Spread the wealth!
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 7:08 am 7:08 am
President Obama said today that “because of our stewardship” of TARP, “and the transparency and accountability we put in place, TARP is expected to cost the taxpayer at least $200 billion less than what was anticipated just this summer.” If you believe this, I have some land in Florida……..
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 7:10 am 7:10 am
OB-Wan; Six years in the Navy? Me too! 1968-74.
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 7:19 am 7:19 am
“OB-Wan; Six years in the Navy? Me too! 1968-74.”
I enlisted after you got out. I’ve been a life-long liberal and it angers me when people think that we don’t respect the American dream.
I remember in college we used to argue about the Viet-nam war and it always ended with a beer and a handshake. But now-days some people seem to think that if you don’t agree you must be undermining the country.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but it sure would be nice if everyone who disagreed didn’t act like I was some kind of Commie.
I’ve seen your comments and we don’t agree but at least you didn’t come after me personally.
I think Obama is in tune with the country because simple Capitalism is no longer to solution to every problem – it never has been. But we can argue that like adults.
Posted by: OB-Wan222 | December 9, 2009, 7:26 am 7:26 am
OB-Wan; I’m a hard core fiscal conservative. I don’t like spending money we don’t have.
Posted by: LongT | December 9, 2009, 7:40 am 7:40 am
That must be killing the libs that he is adopting conservatives view with his economic strategy and deploying more troops in Afganistan.
Posted by: Sara | Dec 8, 2009 7:43:08 PM
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This is a good example of people “hearing what they want to hear”. So if you were a conservative like Sara, in the 2008 elections you didn’t hear Obama say that we should be focusing on Afghanistan and bombing Taliban sites in Pakistan. You don’t hear Bush, McCain – and Clinton for that matter – calling Obama “naive” about dropping bombs in Pakistan. Of course, two months later Bush started doing exactly that!
Obama’s simply doing what he said he’d do. I don’t think it bothers a lot of libs. And personally, while I think of the far right as being in the same category as the Nazi Party -in other countries they’d be under government surveillance for the threats to democracy they are – I consider myself a “centrist”. The far right has tried to label anyone in the center or left of center as “liberal socialists” so that they’re views will appear less extreme than they really are. Ronald Reagan’s policies: abandoning “trickle down economics” and raising taxes would rate him as a commie pinko by the far right if he was president now.
Posted by: The_Mick | December 9, 2009, 7:48 am 7:48 am
“I’m a hard core fiscal conservative. I don’t like spending money we don’t have.”
I can understand that. I’m not crazy about it either, but we are in a crisis. It’s not business as usual as you might know if you’re out there.
We had to borrow to prevent the whole economy from going into the tank. If you check the independent economist you’ll see that they agree. In fact, many think that we didn’t spend (borrow) enough.
Right now, many independents are saying that we need to spend (borrow) more to give the job market a shot in the arm.
In terms of TARP, rather we are getting our money back faster or spending it more slowly, the fact remains that more of it is available and many think that that should be used to spur real job growth.
Posted by: OB-Wan222 | December 9, 2009, 7:48 am 7:48 am
“I’m a hard core fiscal conservative. I don’t like spending money we don’t have.”
“I can understand that. I’m not crazy about it either…”
BTW a quick history lesson – it was under a liberal Bill Clinton that we had our last positive budget numbers. After that ol’ GB told us that we had to have a war but we didn’t have to pay for it that started us on the sleigh ride to the nether regions.
Posted by: OB-Wan222 | December 9, 2009, 7:55 am 7:55 am
Definition of Conservative: Follower, Sheep, Conformist, Predictable, Obedient, Unquestioning, Relunctant to accept change. Very similar to what the Founding Fathers were Fighting Against.
Definition of Liberal: Tolerant, Openminded, Approachable, Friendly, Unpredjudiced, Unbiased, Free Thinking, Non Judgemental. Very similar to what the Founding Fathers were Fighting For.
Posted by: Angie | December 9, 2009, 9:28 am 9:28 am
As far as Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Goes, I Have One Word:
jobs – Jobs – J O B S !
Posted by: Angie | December 9, 2009, 9:32 am 9:32 am
@LongT: “That’s right, you just keep blowing that money Obama . . . before long we’ll all be in the soup line and living on the streets. This poor sick Republic is quickly evolving into the largest third world country on the planet.”
You didn’t mind when Bush blew the entire economy on Iraq for no reason at all, did you? Quit bellyaching.
Posted by: Cthulhu | December 9, 2009, 9:55 am 9:55 am