House Republicans are going out of their way to pull a fast one on the American people. Today they are calling for a vote to end TARP early – but Democrats in the House already enacted Wall Street Reform legislation that killed TARP. The Wall Street Reform Act banned all new TARP programs, as of June 25, and requires that all repayments to TARP may only be used to reduce the debt – which saves U.S. taxpayers $11 billion. House Republicans voted against this bill and against bringing a close to TARP.

Moreover, despite the GOP rhetoric, a number of House Republican leaders voted for President Bush’s TARP program including:

House Republican Leader John Boehner:

I voted for the bill, reluctantly, because I believed the risk of doing nothing was unacceptable. Doing nothing meant taking a huge gamble with the futures of Main Street Americans – families, retirees, students, small businesses and taxpayers.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor:

It was important we lessen the burden on the taxpayers.

Ranking Republican on the Budget Committee Paul Ryan:

I believe we were on the cusp of a deflationary spiral which would have created a Depression. I think that’s probably pretty likely…So in order to prevent a Depression and a complete evisceration of the free market system we have, I think it was necessary.

It’s also worth noting that most of TARP has been paid back to the American taxpayers, as a result of tough requirements Democrats in Congress insisted on when President Bush created the TARP.