Just Like Bush, Obama Hasn’t A Clue (Part One)

First…let’s analyze the TARP or Troubled Asset Relief Plan. $350 Billion dollars was spent after quickly being pushed through Congress by senators and representatives who turned a deaf ear to the overwhelming outcry from their constituents to say “NO” to the bailout. “The sky is falling,” Paulson claimed and without a single outside economist brought before Congress they passed the bill. No real accountability and no guarantees from the banks.

The result? Banks that took the money and spent it on dividends, acquisitions and hoarding of this free money to shore up their ledgers. Did they lend any credible amount to you or your businesses? Obama, his cabinet and Congress are quick complain about the results…but THEY are directly responsible for this mess and the lack of resolution. Too quickly we forget that Obama was a leading Senator pushing for the quick passage of the TARP instead of calling for more review and input by outside economists and experts. Have you heard any apologies? Anyone from the White House or Congress admitting they were wrong? No.

The problem is bailing out the banks in the first place. The concept that you take borrowed money (that taxpayers will have to pay for with interest eventually) and give that money to banks to loan back to individuals and businesses for a profit is ridiculous. The taxpayer has to pay once with interest for a bank to make a profit; twice if they acquire a loan from that bank.

What do you, the taxpayer receive in return? Obama and Co. argue that we are saving the economy and jobs. No, we are supporting free market banks and companies that made poor choices in unregulated mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps. The banks help inflate the perceived value of houses and created the real estate bubble that crashed. They are using OUR money to give banks continued profits off the backs of the taxpayer. This needs to end.

So the argument would be…but we NEED banks. No. Not the banks in their current form. If the banks won’t lend that original $350 Billion then the Fed should refuse any more low interest loans to those institutions and call in any loans they do have with them. They should immediately deploy legions of regulators to crawl through their books and accounting policies. The government should also start lending money to businesses…especially small businesses through the Small Business Administration or other avenues directly. Let the banks know that if they are going to stop lending we will not continue to prop them up but will inject taxpayer funds directly into the economy instead of simply giving banks more profit.

The TARP was never about helping Americans or America. It has been about helping banks continue their unregulated practices, customer interest rate and fee gouging and huge profits. This must end.