The Illegality of the Auto BailoutMike Rappaport

Well, Bush has gone and ahead done it: approved funds under TARP to bail out Chrysler and GM.  Based on the provision in TARP limiting funds to financial institutions, I believe that Bush has acted illegally.  I haven’t studied whether I think his plan makes sense as a policy matter – my sense, though, is that it is better than what Obama and the Democrats would do next year, but it is worse than the Corker plan.  But the key point is that it is illegal. 

I don’t know whether anyone who would want to challenge the plan has standing to do so.  So perhaps there will be no judicial review and no judicial opportunity to declare it illegal.

Alas, Bush ends his failed presidency by taking an illegal action for what is probably a bad policy.