Reply #18: Why did it need to be rushed through.. [View All]

if they weren't even going to implement it?

Their reasoning was that we would see an immediate unfreezing of the credit markets once banks knew the toxic assets would be bought up. That was the stated goal. That was why we weren't allowed to take the bill to committee and have adequate debate. But that didn't happen, LIBOR rates and the TED spread didn't budge. Europe forced Paulson's hand with a massive recapitalization plan. TARP will now never be implemented as it was drawn up.

It only took one day for the markets to determine the bailout was crap. It took bold action on the part of European countries to bring liquidity back, but even that might not be enough. The bill was never designed to save the broad economy. It was simply designed to thaw the credit market and buy us time. As predicted by most economists, it failed.