Is Anyone Paying Attention To The Spending???

Power Line posted a fantastic article yesterday entitled "Quick, Spend The Money Before The Taxpayers Find Out!".  The title pretty much tells it all, but I will post a few details just so that I feel that I have accomplished something.

The article links back to a Byron York article in the Washington Examiner also posted yesterday.  Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank has a wonderful plan to spend the money from TARP that was supposed to be returned to the taxpayers:

"When President Obama announced on June 9 that some financial institutions would be allowed to repay Troubled Asset Relief Program dollars, he said the massively expensive TARP bailout had made money for the federal government.  "It is worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these [TARP recipients], the government has actually turned a profit," the president said.  Indeed, TARP supporters have long held out the hope that the program might be profitable.

"But now Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has come up with a proposal to spend any TARP profits before they can be returned to the taxpayers.  Last Friday, Frank introduced the "TARP for Main Street Act of 2009," a bill that would take profits from the program and immediately redirect them toward housing proposals favored by Frank and some fellow Democrats."

I am not opposed to charity, but I am opposed to the redistribution of wealth, which is exactly what is going on here.  There are, however, a few sane people in our government:

"Frank's proposal comes at a time when Republicans, and some Democrats, are expressing concern about the continued use of TARP money.  Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch recently complained that TARP funds are "now being used as a go-to solution to address all of our nation's economic ills."  Hatch and Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln recently introduced a bill that would require that TARP money goes back to the Treasury for debt reduction."

At a time when budget experts are saying that the current level of federal spending in unsustainable, it would be nice to see the TARP money go back to the Treasury as promised--don't let Congress steal any more from the American people!!!