The Meltdown

Paulson Wants More Dough

Congress is skeptical.

Hank Paulson is changing course again. After setting aside the second half of the $700 billion bailout package for the next administration, the Treasury Secretary is now reportedly mulling whether to ask Congress for the funds. Lawmakers are, however, threatening to deny him use of the money in light of their own desires to pass an auto industry bailout and aid to homeowners, both of which Paulson opposes. Then there’s the report from the Government Accountability Office which criticized the Treasury Department's handling of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. TARP currently employs 48 of the 200 employees the GAO thinks it needs to properly function. According to The Wall Street Journal, House Minority Leader John Boehner has told Paulson he does not have the votes to release the funds; a movement is also afoot in the Senate to block the funds.