How's It Playing? More On TARP

A Dallas Morning News editorial says that regular folks are justifiably angry at the gargantuan sums top banks received from the public TARP purse, but that Congress should be put in the "hot seat" as well. U.S. banks behaved badly, it argues, but Washington enabled them.

 

The Seattle Times criticizes the Obama administration for raising expectations about Geithner's address on Tuesday and then shoving him on-stage "empty-handed". Americans carrying the debt of the bailout deserve candor on the challenges, opportunities and expenses of the nation's economic crisis, the editors argue.

 

The (Charleston, SC) Post and Courier also implores Geithner to rapidly fill in the blanks on the administration's plans to revitalize the banking sector. Until "the details are clear on how the government will evaluate bank balance sheets, and what prices the new partnership will offer for troubled assets," the editors believe it will be hard to predict results.

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is concerned by the magnitude of the administration's proposed rescue of the country's financial houses and that the bailout will be routed "through the sticky channels of Wall Street", doing little for the average taxpayer. 

 

The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman says the Obama administration "is finding it easier to vilify former Treasury chief Hank Paulson than to come up with a better plan" to boost the financial sector.   

 

The Boston Globe says that Geithner and the Treasury Department "shouldn't settle for half-measures when bold strokes are needed."

 

By contrast, The Sacramento Bee assesses the massive scale of the stimulus package and concludes that the lessons of overconfidence have been lost on the new generation of liberals.