they were both political, but TARP was an act of legislation passed by elected political representatives whereas QE* was enacted by an unelected technocrat who

they were both political, but TARP was an act of legislation passed by elected political representatives whereas QE* was enacted by an unelected technocrat who made the decision without being politically accountable for it. now, maybe it was the right call and the (nominally) non-political nature of the Fed board is a necessary arrangement to allow for these decisions to be made where a politically accountable body could never be expected to do so. or maybe it wasn't the right call and the political act of selecting who would prosper and who would suffer was made by a man without an appropriate mandate to make a decision that so profoundly affected millions of people.