The NYT discusses plans to pay for a new round of stimulus with unspent TARP money and contrasts this position with the Obama administration's desire to use the money to pay reduce the deficit. Under the law, unspent TARP money automatically goes back to the Treasury. This means that using TARP money for stimulus is no different than using any other money for stimulus. It also means that the Obama administration cannot use the money for deficit reduction since the baseline projections of the deficit already assume that it will be used for this purpose.
--Dean Baker
