alternatehistory.com

In September 2008 Congress approved a Bill to bail out the financial industry to the tune of $800 billion dollars in what was known as TARP. It faced rampant opposition from conservatives and Tea Party members who were ultimately strong-armed by President Bush and Treasury Sec Henry Paulson to approve it. Ultimately over 1.5 trillion dollars of tax payer money was spent on the bailout only for the American people to learn the financial industry was more profitable than at any point in history. So what would have happened if deficit hawks and fiscal conservatives had voted with their hearts and vetoed the bill a second time? Would the financial economy really have collapsed or was that just fear mongering by Wall Street?
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