Today, the House passed a joint resolution which now goes to the Senate. The goal of which is to stop the second half of the TARP funds ($350 billion) from being distributed.  Paul Ryan is pushing hard to stop this money from being distributed:

My fear is that the second $350 billion in TARP funding will go far beyond the original mission of preserving overall financial market stability, and instead will be used to fund a heavy-handed, neo-industrial policy. Various industries have already marshaled their lobbyists for a claim on these public dollars. And with our Federal budget deficit expected to reach historic levels this year, we cannot risk more public funds to be squandered.

In light of the Fed’s vastly expanded policy options for addressing key sources of market turmoil going forward and their relative effectiveness – combined with the very real risk that more TARP funding will be used for an industrial policy – I am voting against the release of the second half of TARP funds. Although I am concerned about the Fed moving into new and expanded policy territory, that concern is tempered by the fact that the Fed is relatively insulated from politics and lobbyists and is more singularly focused on the stability and health of the financial system, which was my foremost reason for approving the original TARP funding last October.

There is all sorts of weird things going on.  First of all, it should be noted that not only did Paul Ryan vote for, but he also lobbied heavily to pass the first Economic Stabilization Act.  It's bad enough that they passed a bill which cost $700 billion... but it was written in such a way that the money was to be distributed in two halves, and Congress could only stop the second half from being distributed by an active vote on the floor.

It's bad enough that they voted to spend that kind of money, but they've set the precedent that more money will be spent unless they vote no.  That vote is also subject to a Presidential veto.  So even if the Senate passes the resolution, President Obama will more than likely veto it, and get his money anyway.  After voting for that original legislation, now Paul Ryan wants to complain?  The reality is that this resolution is meaningless because of the veto, and the odds of securing enough votes to override a veto are slim to none.

Of course, it gets worse.  Now Paul is claiming that he's voting for this "disapproval resolution" because it will use TARP money to fun "heavy handed neo-industrial policy", or as this press release from his site says:

Today's disapproval resolution (H.J. Res. 3) comes on the heels of yesterday's passage of H.R. 384, which shifted TARP’s original purpose from addressing the systemic risk in the financial system to picking the winners and losers in the marketplace.

So now all of a sudden, picking winners and losers in the market is bad policy?  But a couple month ago, when Paul Ryan was arguing to give funds to the failing auto companies, that somehow wasn't "neo-industrial policy" and wasn't "picking winners and losers"?  We weren't taxing Toyota to save GM then?  And now Paul is suddenly concerned about executive control over funding, when he said not one word after President Bush unilaterally, and illegally used TARP funds to bail out the auto industry?  He's concerned about keeping the Fed focused on the financial industry, but he had no problem with the car czar that he proposed in his earlier legislation?

Look, I'm all for cutting off these funds, and perhaps I'm being stupid to continue to go after Paul Ryan like this.  But when reading these releases, you'd think that he was against these things the entire time!  But only now that a Democratic President is in office, is he all of a sudden for a more reasonable fiscal policy that didn't bailout industrial concerns.

Well you know what, that's what a straight partisan hack does.  He ought to be apologizing for his previous votes, not pretending he was being responsible the entire time, but I don't see one bit of regret for what he did previously.  And I'll be damned if I'm going to let him get away with it.

Update:  I received an email from Congressman Ryan's Press Secretary.  He emailed me a link to a statement that Congressman Ryan made after Bush's decision to use TARP funds to bailout the auto industry:

As I've consistently argued, assistance for the domestic auto industry should come from funds that have already been appropriated. Last week, I voted for a bill that did just that: H.R. 7321 cut the bureaucratic red tape from previously approved funds, rather than divert resources from the financial rescue package or rely on additional taxpayer dollars.

I am deeply troubled by the precedent set by expanding the TARP into areas beyond its original intent. It was made clear to me two weeks ago that if the Energy Department funds were not released, they would be granting access to TARP funds for the auto companies. These were among the reasons why I supported expediting funds from the Department of Energy loan program. Allowing the Big Three to access funds from the financial rescue package creates a dangerous precedent for other corporations to lay claim to TARP funds. My concerns remain focused on retirees, workers, and families in Southern Wisconsin, but this form of assistance is the wrong way to go.

However, I would still like to point out that this really isn't good enough.  This seems to mostly be an argument over the source of the funds, and not the manner in which they were appropriated.  In fact, Congressman Ryan states that the reason he supported the auto bailout bill was because of the implicit threat from Bush to use TARP funds, which is clearly illegal under the TARP bill.

The Senate failed to pass the auto bailout bill, not just over a disagreement regarding the size or source of the fund, but because of the fundamental nature of bailing out those companies.  Bush did it anyway, without any legislative authority.  Why were no impeachment articles filed?  That is the ugly precedent here.