Bloomberg: Bush Backing Down on Spending Rest of Bailout

Boomberg News is reporting that a beleaguered President Bush is backing down on spending the rest of the bailout package. The Bush administration is under fire for spending half of the bailout in ways that were not intended by Congress. Bloomberg:

The Bush administration told congressional aides it won't ask lawmakers to release $350 billion remaining as part of the $700 billion U.S. financial- rescue package, people familiar with the matter said.

The administration of President George W. Bush ends in less than 10 weeks, and a delay in submitting a request to lawmakers would leave it to President-elect Barack Obama to tap remaining funds in the bailout fund. ``I think it is the right thing to do,'' Senator Richard Shelby, top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``I think we need to debate this. I think the American people need to know where the first $350 billion went, who benefited from it.''

The Treasury Department has committed $290 billion, or about 83 percent of the total allocated so far in a program Congress enacted last month to inject capital into a wide spectrum of banks and American International Group Inc. The U.S. invested $125 billion in nine major banks, including Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. and plans to buy an additional $125 billion in preferred shares of smaller lenders.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been criticized by lawmakers for shifting the focus of the program to inject capital directly into financial institutions. His initial proposal presented to Congress called for buying troubled assets from the firms.

 
posted by ladd on 11/17/08 at 07:16 PM. [printer-friendly version]   

posted by ladd on 11/17/08 at 06:19 PM

posted by Walt on 11/18/08 at 08:53 AM