How can one political side blame the other? The Republicans and the Democrats are both culpable of the situation the country is in.
I tend to agree with you, but (or should that be "and") I enjoy the flaming I get from posting something like that.
TARP itself doesn't seem to be a huge issue. It helped a few of the bigger institutions out, but I seem to remember reading some of the banks that were not in trouble were fight the Feds not to take the funding and the overhead of restrictions that came with it.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/06/19/where-did-all-the-bailout-money-go.aspx
http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/where-did-all-the-tarp-money-go/
http://www.africanaonline.com/2010/12/tarp-bailout-guide-where-did-the-money-go/
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_41/b4198029792387.htm
Lots of gnashing of the teeth over if it was the right thing to do or not. It seemed to bailout some of the big companies, but it did not bailout the borrower who found himself underwater. Now, that is going to be the tricky one and Obama started to address it in his state of the union stump. You get an AIG and a GM into a better position and they will pay you back. You put John Q Public who was extended too far to begin with on a plan to help and it is probably just a loss. I might argue that it is a nobler loss than bailing out the corporations since it is taxpayer funds. (even though corporations pay taxes too) I wouldn't know exactly how to write the rules on this one though.
Old story that executives still made good bonuses while "on TARP". You have to pay talent to get the company on good footing. AIG took a beating publicity-wise, but without talent at the time, they could not divest of the unprofitable business (Is the best of the business now called Chartis?).
http://mcauleysworld.wordpress.com/...oney-paid-for-executive-bonuses-lavish-perks/
The "crime" that both the Republicans and the Democrats are responsible for is that nobody went to jail, yet, for causing the crisis. Now, if Obama puts Godman Sachs executives in jail for what was basically fraud, then he gets to stand firmly on the high ground. Until then, IMO, they are all in it together one way or the other.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/uk-goldman-idUKTRE7513XF20110602
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/05/who-is-to-blame/
Pardon all of the links. This one just got my heart rate up a bit and I was going down financial crisis memory lane. Disappointing.