I'd Like to Say I Can't Believe It

But I can.

“It’s a never-ending sinkhole of taxpayer money into major financial institutions without [attaching] some major strings,” Allen Sinai, chief global economist at Decision Economics, a private consulting firm, told lawmakers on the Senate Budget Committee Thursday. “[TARP] is the status quo,” he added later. “I wouldn’t support that.”

Sinai’s comments came just hours before the Senate voted to release the second half of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout with virtually no restriction on how it’s spent. The count was 52 to 42, with five Republicans supporting the release and eight Democrats, along with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), opposing it. [Emphasis mine.]

  Washington Independent

Isn’t the lack of oversight what they’ve been whining about and why they are upset with what happened to the first half of the bailout money? Christ on a cracker.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Col.), who voted against TARP as a House member last year, said he supported the release of the second $350 billion “because I am confident that President-elect Obama will use the money in a way that will stabilize our financial system and strengthen our economy.”

Confidence is great. But, Senator D-umbbell, President-elect Obama isn’t the one who will be using the money. President Bush-the-Lesser used the money to have banks issue loans to bail out the mortgage crisis, and what did they do with it? They bought other banks and gave their executives huge bonuses.

Christ on a cracker.

House Democrats weren’t in such a trusting mood. This week party leaders debated legislation to restrict Obama’s bailout spending. Sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, the proposal would rein in executive compensation and shareholder dividends under TARP; direct at least $40 billion toward foreclosure mitigation; and force the bailed-out banks to detail their spending plans. House Democratic leaders said the bill would place important checks on how the White House will administer TARP spending.

Well, I should think.

The Senate, however, has no plans to take up the Frank bill — or anything similar. Instead, Democratic leaders in the upper chamber are ready to take Obama’s economic team at its word.

And I seem to remember Obama saying something to the effect that unchecked executive power is okay as long as the executive is someone good and responsible like himself.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.