President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic Congress members of Congress at the White House on Wednesday, lobbying for bipartisan support for his efforts to use Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to help small businesses and bring down double-digit unemployment.
"I am absolutely committed to working with anybody who is willing to do the job to make sure we rebuild our economy," Obama said in a statement after meeting with the Congressmen. "I'm not going to rest until every American who's looking for work can find a job."
He said that TARP has "served its original purpose, and the cost has been much lower than we expected, giving us a chance to pay down the deficit faster than we thought at the time and also allowing us to invest in job creation on Main Street rather than on Wall Street."
Obama also expressed his hope that Democrats and Republicans in the Congress can "forge a consensus" on using TARP to at least help small businesses in terms of hiring and keeping workers.
"Spurring hiring and economic growth are not Democratic or Republican issues," Obama said. "They are American issues that affect every single one of our constituents."
However, Representative Eric Cantor, R-Vir., who attended the meeting, wasn't impressed with what he heard from Obama, saying after the meeting that the administration "can't keep spending money we don't have."
Representative Mike Pence, R-Ind., who was also at the meeting, said it is clear that the administration "doesn't get it."
"We can't borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy," Pence said.
The meeting came on the same day as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner revealed that the TARP was being extended until October 2010.
In a letter sent to House and Senate leaders, Geithner said that the TARP was being extended until October 3, 2010. It was a move that met with criticism from Republicans like Senator Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who said he "strongly opposes" the decision.
"For a program that the President claimed yesterday is so unloved, my Democratic colleagues sure love to abuse it," Gregg said. "It should expire this year, and, as originally intended and required by law, all funds be paid back to the American taxpayer."
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.