Frank: If You Think TARP's Bad, Check Out The Pentagon
At a Christian Science Monitor-sponsored breakfast this morning, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) defended TARP banking bailout against critics on the right who have called the $700B initiative irresponsible. Frank said he expects to see a "happy ending" for the program -- and for the nation's economy. To explain his perspective, Frank compared the financial bailout to another massive government spending program from the recent past.
"You take the $700 billion from the TARP -- most of that's going to be repaid," he said. "I do think it's important to make a distinction between the hundreds of billions spent on TARP and the hundreds and hundreds of billions spent on the war in Iraq, which isn't coming back."
Defending TARP, Frank said, "I am struck by the selectivity by which we worry about expenditures. I mean, the war in Iraq is enormously expensive...I think some of the Cold War [style] weapons we're building now are enormously expensive."
Those worried about the financial health of the nation shouldn't be worried about what's going on at the Treasury Dept., according to the congressman. Instead, the real focus should be on the Pentagon.
"The biggest ongoing threat to fiscal sanity in this country, I believe, is an open-ended, ever expanding military budget that goes far beyond what is necessary," he said.
Frank said his rosy outlook for TARP was bolstered by the man now in charge of the program, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner -- whose 2/10 presentation about how he'll manage the remaining $350B was panned in the media and on Wall Street. Frank said he told the Treasury Sec. over dinner this week that his presentation needs work but that he was sold on the substance.
"The biggest difference between these two administrations is their handing of TARP," Frank said, comparing the Bush and Obama teams. "It's sort of a unique sociological experiment. [former Treasury Sec. Henry] Paulson had $350 billion, and we saw what he did with it. Now Geithner's going to have $350 billion and we'll get to see the difference in how he handles it."
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)
B Frank should go back into the closet since he is in the dark when it comes to matters of finance and how to fix the economy.
If you want the right direction to go in go the opposite that frank tells you!!! He has been nothing but wrong all his career .If you really want to see the direction of the country look at Mass. . This is what a one party system does screw the tax payer.