TARP was a decision made in a remarkably short time while the global financial system was burning. And it had to be made while the United States was facing a sy

TARP was a decision made in a remarkably short time while the global financial system was burning. And it had to be made while the United States was facing a systemic wide crisis. Moreover some of the major banks did not want the money. Some major employers in the United States were about to miss payroll. The most famous story was a McDonalds franchisee who was not going to be able to make payroll. They didn’t hold cash on hand and needed banks to keep rolling paper. When McDonalds franchisees cannot make payroll, there’s a potential for tent cities. If they had years, I’m sure things would have been different. Incidentally, Ben Bernanke got so sick of that line of questioning that he is no longer a registered Republican. He’s one of the people who pulled us back from the brink of recession and I don’t know he’s treated with the appropriate respect.