Lawmakers angry at the Bush administration's hide-and-seek call for new taxpayer dollars for the savings and loan bailout are moving to approve only a fraction of the billions being sought.
The House Banking Committee voted Tuesday to slash to $10 billion the administration's request for $57 billion to continue the bailout through the 1991 fiscal year that began Oct. 1.Both Democrats and Repiblicans on the panel suggested Congress should deny any new bailout money in view of Bush's assertion a year ago that "never again" would taxpayers be tapped for it and Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady's refusal to testify why that has changed.
But warned by regulators that the bailout's total costs might swell an additional $300 million in the next three months without the funds, the committee voted just enough money to keep the program going through February.