TARP Moves Forward With Promises, Not Guarantees, of Improvements

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So it’s confirmed. Chris Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, will do nothing to ensure that there are oversight and executive compensation provisions in the second half of the TARP rollout. He will not legislate in aid for families in foreclosure, either.

The reason? Larry Summers, writing on behalf of the President-elect, wrote him a letter assuring him that the executive branch could and would police itself. Don’t worry, Chris, we got this! As I pointed out before, Dodd is an awfully credulous fellow. Hank Paulson convinced him of the exact same thing. How’d that turn out?

Will Obama and company will do a better job than Paulson? Probably. Should Dodd and the Senate Democrats assume that they can take a hands-off approach to things like TARP because the man in the Oval Office is from their party? Absolutely not.