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Contact: Mary Vought or Stephen Miller
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Bachmann Condemns Rush to Spend Another $350 Billion in Taxpayer Funds on Failed Program
Washington, D.C.,
Jan 13 -
Today, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-6), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, made the following statement in a hearing on the “Priorities for the Next Administration - Use of TARP Funds under EESA:”
“Today, our Committee is meeting to discuss detailed ways in which the second $350 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) may be spent. And, frankly, I'm troubled by the timing.
“For one thing, we have not even held a single hearing on the merits or necessity of releasing this second tranche. Our Committee is proceeding as if the decision has been made to release the second $350 billion without holding any substantial debate on whether or not such a release is the appropriate step for stabilizing our financial markets and getting the markets moving again.
“And, at the same time, the issues we discuss today surely deserved a little more thought before Congress handed the Treasury a $700-billion blank check.
“When the original bailout was passed we were told that $700 billion was essentially a “big number” picked out of thin air that was needed to calm the markets – not that the U.S. Treasury must spend every penny of it. Many experts and even Secretary Paulson himself stated that this was the case.
“I am concerned that our Committee is moving forward with a preemptive discussion that jumps ahead of this fundamental question – is it necessary to release the second tranche for the state of our financial markets? I am not convinced that the case has been made that it is.
“Worse yet, the House has already scheduled a floor vote on the Chairman’s bill, H.R. 384, which attempts to make sweeping changes to the way the TARP must operate. While I agree that the TARP has had serious flaws, most of which were predicted by many of us on this Committee, and we should be looking at ways to address these flaws, Congress should not rush to vote on this bill in the next few days.
“There's an adage that says: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This Congress was rushed into a gargantuan decision last Fall; one that will have financial repercussions for generations. The majority in the House was fooled into believe that there was not enough time to think before acting. We must not make that mistake again.
“We are just today holding a hearing on this legislation, where we expect to hear varying approaches from experts on how the second tranche could be allocated and how oversight of the TARP could be improved. Our Committee has not held a mark-up to hash out alternatives or offer any improvements to H.R. 384. In fact, the last time our Committee held a mark-up at all was September 16, 2008 – almost four months ago.
“Congress owes it to the hardworking taxpayers of our nation to take a careful look this time rather than repeating the mistakes of last October.”
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