Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) announced his support for a recoupment strategy to protect taxpayers as a plan is created to address Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds that have not yet been paid back. Rep. Shuler and members of the Blue Dog Coalition sent a letter to U.S. House of Representative leadership insisting that the President put forward legislation to recoup any losses from the TARP bail-outs and to guarantee that further implementation of the TARP does not add to the country’s mammoth debt burden.
President Obama recently announced a “bank fee” designed to make sure that all assistance that was provided to banks and financial institutions through the TARP is paid back in full. Rep. Shuler and other members of the Blue Dog Coalition are advocating that taxpayers should not be stuck with the bill, and that money raised through the bank fee should go to paying down the national debt.
“Billions of dollars went to wealthy bank executives whose reckless decision making contributed to our nation’s economic downturn in the first place,” said Rep. Shuler. “It is imperative that we get this money back. Making sure that bail-outs do not add to the national debt is the only responsible option.”
Congressman John Tanner (D-TN), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and co-founder of the Blue Dog Coalition, said “As the Blue Dogs have talked about for years, our nation’s fiscal outlook is bleak. It is imperative that the cost of this package be recovered without adding an additional hundreds of billions dollars to our federal debt.”
The Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee or “bank fee” is designed to raise as much as $120 billion to pay back taxpayer money that went to bail out failing banks in the fall of 2008, but in reality also funded substantial bonuses for bank executives. Shuler opposed the TARP and stimulus legislation that allowed these bonuses.
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