The Moderate Republican: TARP Returns

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

Republicans came to power as the party of big ideas, and without returning to that model they could be looking at a long winter. Additionally, those big ideas need to focus on Middle America. Three issues that could work are conservation, reform and localism.

Conservation- a return to the Teddy Roosevelt model of conservation. One doesn’t necessarily have to buy into global warming to appreciate the need to protect the natural resources we have.

Reform- the federal government is bigger than ever, and won’t be getting any smaller over the next four years. Republicans need to fashion themselves as national reformers. Much of Middle America wants the government as safety net, but bloated bureaucracies breed corruption that needs to be dealt with.

Localism- this is the lynchpin that brings it all together. If we bought our food locally, shopped locally, governed locally, many of the issue we now have to deal with would go away, or at the least become manageable.

Below is a collection of writers who speak about the things that matter. Some are Right, some Left and some Center, but all intelligent and rational voices.

Senator John Thune has been mentioned as a possible candidate for President in 2012 so the following can certainly be seen in that light. Press release from Sen. Thune's office:

Senator John Thune today introduced a bill that would require the Secretary of the Treasury to use taxpayer funds returned by financial institutions under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to reduce the national debt. Several financial institutions that received TARP funding have returned or expressed an interest in returning billions in taxpayer funding.

"Congress is responsible for allocating taxpayer dollars and this legislation will prevent the Obama Administration from attempting to turn this money into a revolving slush fund," said Thune. "TARP was designed for the President to report back to Congress and seek approval for additional funding. This legislation ensures the returned funds are not reallocated by the administration for other priorities. Instead, this bill would work to reduce the size of the national debt in this country, something that seems to be a forgotten idea with the current Democrat leadership."

Recently, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner has indicated that he intends to spend these funds on additional TARP activities without Congressional approval.

Whether it is political gamesmanship or not it makes sense to me.

The Moderate Republican

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

The American Conservative » Rod Dreher

Via Meadia

Front Porch Republic

David Brooks

The Soap Box

TARP Returns

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