Shocker: Treasury Bailout Program May Go Over Its Original $700 Billion Budget
Surprise!
(RTTNews) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner cautioned Tuesday that the $700 billion allotted for his department’s financial rescue program may not be enough, and that it is likely that the stabilization of the financial system will cost more.
Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Geithner strayed from his prepared remarks and emphasized the importance of working with lawmakers to map out a plan to solve the financial crisis. Specifically, he pledged that his department will work with lawmakers to “determine the appropriate size and shape” of further interventions in the financial markets.
There will likely be additional bailouts in the midst of what is a “deepening” recession. Geithner said.
“As expensive as it already has been, our effort to stabilize the financial system might cost more,” Geithner said in his prepared remarks.
At what point to we finally admit that the cost of all these bailouts isn’t worth what we’re getting back? Which is essentially nothing, given that all we’re doing is propping up the broken status quo. And that once we’re finally done with all the “stimulus” and bailouts, we’re likely to hit another recession on top of the current one as all the businesses, and individuals and state/local governments that took federal money finally have to face reality without that money.
We cannot keep up the bailouts and “stimulus” spending indefinitely. At some point, we are going to have to pay off the debt this is creating. And when the tax bill for that debt comes down the pipe, and when the government gravy train dries up, we’re going to be on hard times.
What we’ve done is make everything worse. We’d have been better off just grinning-and-bearing some tough times now.
