Fox's Wallace didn't challenge falsehood on Republican opposition to TARP

Chris Wallace did not challenge Rep. Paul Ryan's false claim that all Republicans opposed the release of “the second half of the TARP.”

On the June 21 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace did not challenge Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) false claim that all Republicans opposed the release of “the second half of the TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program].” Ryan stated:

RYAN: I do believe the TARP was necessary. What bothers me is the way the TARP was deployed afterwards. The whole idea here was to go get these toxic assets to free up credit. What happened? Starting with the last administration is that we started buying banks, and now we've gone outside of the financial credit markets to owning auto companies.

This is why I and all other Republicans didn't support the second half of the TARP. But I do believe, at that time, we had an extraordinary moment that had to be met.

In fact, six of the 41 Senate Republicans and four of the 178 House Republicans supported the release of the second half of the TARP funds by voting against resolutions disapproving the release of the funds. Moreover, Wallace did not mention that the Bush administration asked Congress to release the funds, an action the Bush administration reportedly took in consultation with the Obama transition team.

From the June 21 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace:

WALLACE: All right. Let's look, though, at some specific policies that you seem to object to in principle but haven't always in particular.

You voted for the original $700 billion financial bailout plan, although you opposed releasing the second half. The major banks didn't collapse. Credit markets have eased. And just this last week, some of the major banks repaid more than $60 billion in their federal bailout. So, in fact, didn't that help us prevent an economic collapse?

RYAN: No, I agree. I still think that was the right vote to take at that time. I think we were on the verge of an economic meltdown. This was a once-in-a-generation kind of a crisis, and I do believe the TARP was necessary.

What bothers me is the way the TARP was deployed afterwards. The whole idea here was to go get these toxic assets to free up credit. What happened? Starting with the last administration is that we started buying banks, and now we've gone outside of the financial credit markets to owning auto companies.

This is why I and all other Republicans didn't support the second half of the TARP. But I do believe, at that time, we had an extraordinary moment that had to be met.

WALLACE: All right. Let's talk about the auto companies and the bailout there. Chrysler has sped through bankruptcy court. It looks like it's going to remain a viable company, maybe on a smaller scale, but something of a viable company.