THE NEXT WAVE - CHECKBOOKS OUT, PENS READY - AT 6:01 P.M. ET:  Isn't it remarkable about the Democrats:  They think the money in the federal treasury is theirs.  From McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday made the case for spending some of an expected $200 billion left over from last year's federal bailout of banks to pay for new small-business tax cuts and short-term job creation as well as deficit reduction.

The plan the president described in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a center-left research center, didn't include an overall price tag, and several Republicans say that Troubled Asset Relief Program leftovers must go toward deficit repayment and shouldn't be transferrable to new spending.

Obama and his aides, however, said that TARP money was fair game for job creation and that the president would work with Congress to consider funding questions.

COMMENT:  Praise to the writers of the story for describing Brookings as "a center-left research center."  That kind of specific description, especially when the story deals with the left, is sorely lacking in today's journalism.  Instead, we get terms like "ant-war activist."

As to the specifics, we'll have to see what's proposed.  But returning these funds to the American people, where the money originated, wouldn't be a bad idea.

December 8, 2009