As the two parties remain deadlocked over the debt ceiling, everyone has been wondering: What does reality TV star Sarah Palin think about all of this? On Fox News last night, she shared some of her inimitable wisdom:
“Well, scaring the American people is exactly what President Obama is doing. And that bizarre speech that he gave last night, it reminded me of when he insisted that TARP had to be passed, that you know, it was life or death at that time also. We had to increase spending in the federal government or people would be starving on the streets. And I mean, then look at what TARP resulted in.”
You know what? The TARP vote is a lot like the debt ceiling vote … except in the exact opposite way that Palin thinks it is. It’s not that they’re both borne out of manufactured emergencies. It’s that they’re both unpopular votes that are necessary to stave off real emergencies. Just like raising the debt ceiling, nobody in Congress actually wanted to vote for TARP. Bailing out the banks is about as unpalatable as being “pro-debt.” But — again, like raising the debt ceiling — it was necessary to avert economic disaster.
Palin should recognize that the TARP vote was, in fact, a “life or death” situation. Speaking to CNN about TARP in October of 2008, someone who looks exactly like her and has the same name said, “[I]t is a time of crisis and government did have to step in.”
