Congress Yelling at the Bankers is a Good Thing

Hooray for Barney Frank and his buddies! He's managing to do what common sense business management practices failed to do. Dig this.

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley may decide after enduring yesterday’s Congressional hearing that the old Troubled Asset Relief Program is more trouble than it’s worth.

Eight chief executive officers of the biggest U.S. banks heard lawmakers in Washington criticize their bonuses, underwriting fees and perks. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, read questions from angry constituents asking what banks had done with taxpayer money they’d taken from the $700 billion TARP fund, and Rep. Michael Capuano, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he “cannot believe no one has prosecuted you.”

With more scrutiny ahead, bankers including JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Morgan Stanley’s John Mack and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blankfein have said they’d like to repay government loans as soon as possible. BB&T Corp. CEO Kelly King told an investor conference yesterday that his Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based bank wants to be first to get out of TARP and escape U.S. restrictions, which can be added retroactively.

It doesn't matter how dim little Barney's questions are or how mindlessly destructive his political positions may be if he manages to get the bankers to hand the money back and scamper off. That's precisely what we want. If the bankers don't want a pack of addlepated twits overseeing their every move, then they ought to take more care of their businesses and stop handing money out to people who can't pay them back.

I'll say it again, just so you know I really meant it. Hooray for Barney Frank!