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GAO: TARP Bailouts Are Going To Cost Taxpayers Billions
Freedom Outpost
Although some Troubled Asset Relief Program investments have returned a profit to taxpayers, a new report says non-housing programs overall will likely cost taxpayers billions.
According to a report published by the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday, as of Sept. 30 the Department of the Treasury had exited four of the nine non-housing programs that were active, and was managing only $2.9 billion in the remaining programs, down from a peak of just over $450 billion.
Some programs, primarily those utilized by financial institutions, have yielded returns that exceed the original investment, while others, such as the auto industry bailout, have imposed costs on taxpayers. (RELATED: Bailed Out Bank Execs Charged With Stealing Million in TARP, CDFI Funds)
Part of the reason some programs have lost money, GAO says, is because the Treasury Department has multiple, sometimes conflicting, objectives for winding down TARP programs, and has no strict formula for balancing goals.
For example, while it strives to “maximize overall investment returns within competing constraints,” it also seeks to promote financial stability and market confidence while disposing of its investments as soon as practicable, which in some cases led the agency to divest its holdings even when “holding its shares longer could have meant realizing greater gains for the taxpayer.”
