WASHINGTON – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member, Senator Collins, R-Me., who co-sponsored the law creating the SIGTARP, said she found his newly released quarterly report “extremely troubling."
“I am deeply troubled that the Special Inspector General found that so many of the stated goals of TARP simply have not been met, including a commitment to increase lending to small businesses and consumers. Instead, lending continues to decrease, month after month. Additionally, the TARP program designed specifically to address small-business lending — announced in March 2009 — has still not been implemented by Treasury.
“Equally alarming, it appears that ‘too big to fail’ institutions are even larger and possibly more interconnected as a result of TARP assistance,” she said. “The market mentality now seems fixed that the U.S. government will continue to step in and bail out giant financial institutions.
“The IG’s findings confirm my decision to oppose releasing $350 billion in TARP funds last year and my recent vote to terminate the program altogether."