Re: How ignorant do you think we are?
OK, I should have phrased that differently. Obama did not request, and was only marginally responsible for it passing. It's interesting that Obama gets blamed for the spending this year, but when you point out TARP was last year, that is congress's fault.
Now, what do you think should be done with the leftover money? Why do none of you complaining want to answer that question?
There is no leftover money. The government never set up a separate TARP fund, put money into it. It was all done on paper in a budget - not a real bank account.
The only time any real money changed hands was when they transferred funds from the federal government to other places.
So - the idea that there's a stack of money not being spent which has a TARP sticky note on it quite isn't realistic.
It's like this:
1) I have $1,000. I open up a bank account and put the money in there.
2) I decide that I need to save $700.00 of it - avoid spending it - to put it aside for emergencies in the future.
3) So on paper I write $700.00 for future emergencies in column A, $300.00 to spend, now, in column B.
4) And when I spend money on food I deduct it form the $300.00 balance - column B.
5) So, I spend all of my $300.00 in column B. I want to spend more money.
6) But because I divided my money into two columns I now have to subtract $300.00 from the $700.00 in column A and add that amount to column B.
Leaving $400.00 for emergencies in column A.
7) The $700.00 is still in my one bank account - it never went anyway - my "setting it aside" was only on paper. . . So I, only on paper, am taking the $400.00 from one side and putting it into the other to make it look like I, now, have more money to spend.
This is what the government is doing - they're taking their OWN money and shifting it into the other column.
And, on that note, the reason why TARP didn't work is because they never put the money towards what htey intended it for in the first place - TARP was suppose to be the "Trouble Assests Relief Program" - they were suppose to be buying people's bad debt (mortgages, etc) .. instead, they started giving it as bailout money which didn't help at all.
But I'm not really complaining - I think that TARP was bull**** to begin with and i'm glad that not all that money was flushed into it, honestly.