Senate GOP sources repeatedly emphasized to me last week that one of the reasons why the Democratic leadership was so eager to railroad through the bloated “recovery” package was because TARP was going to be an issue again the following week. Nearly a trillion dollars is a staggering amount of money, combine that with TARP you’re at the very least rounding up to two trillion in government spending outlays in the span of a few months. Better the bill be passed before the public is suddenly reminded of the previous $700 billion in spending, when Geithner begins inevitably leaking the plot details of TARP II: Son of Toxic Assets. Well, surprise — with a cloture vote expected tomorrow, suddenly Geithner is postponing the unveiling of his TARP plans which was originally scheduled for Monday:
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will postpone until Tuesday his new plan to boost the financial system with the rest of the $700 billion bailout money, one of President Obama’s top economic advisers said on Sunday.
Lawrence Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, said on “This Week with George Stephanopolous” that the White House wants to keep the focus on the roughly $800 billion fiscal stimulus package making its way through Congress.
“I think there is a desire to keep the focus on the recovery program, which is so very, very important,” Summers said.
The Senate is set for a cloture vote on the stimulus package on Monday evening, and a vote on final passage on Tuesday. Republican senators acknowledged on Sunday that the package would pass with a handful of their colleagues in support.
Geithner is scheduled for a 10 a.m. hearing Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), as the bailout is known formally. Geithner’s new plan for the money had been scheduled for Monday in a speech at the Treasury Building ahead of Obama’s first news conference in the East Room of the White House on Monday evening.
(Also via Instapundit)