Political Piggy Bank

Great Op-Ed in the WSJ today regarding TARP and TurboTax Tim's ability to pull the plug on this pork barrel, political favor piggy bank:

The political class has twisted TARP into a fund to finance its pet programs and constituents, and the faster it fades away, the better for taxpayers and the financial system.

This from an editorial page that actually backed TARP.

Neil Barofsky, the TARP inspector general, believes that the American taxpayer is unlikely to get a return on their AIG or auto company "investment." He's testified that taxpayers may be on the hook for more than $20 billion dollars when all is said and done.

It's time to cut our losses, but the political class will first have to admit that these handouts are in fact loses. As William McGuren writes, that's unlikely to happen any time soon. Mr. Obama and his associates are more likely to blame W than take the reigns of the federal beast and take responsibility for their actions.