Sen. Thune Defends TARP Vote

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D, says he doesn’t regret his vote in favor of the bank bailout – the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) – but he does regret how the bailout turned out. Spoken like a true presidential candidate, which is what Thune may turn into next year.

"I have probably been one of the fiercest critics and probably biggest advocates of ending TARP since it was enacted because of how it was used," he told C-Span, The Hill reports. "It was wrong philosophically. I hope we get our money back. How it was used and, in my view, misused is what I've taken issue with."

But Thune says had good reason to support TARP initially. “When somebody comes to you and says, 'the economy is in a meltdown, the credit markets are frozen up,' these are all the experts on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans. That was a very compelling argument at the time.”