Repeal TARP? The hour is late, experts say

It would make anybody's shortlist of the most unpopular legislation in recent memory: TARP.

It stands for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Signed into law in October 2008 by President George W. Bush, the program gave unusual financial authority to the U.S. Treasury Department. Lawmakers hoped the move would steer the U.S. economy away from financial collapse. 

In the years since, TARP has been vilified, among other things, as a no-strings-attached gift for the financial industry that ignored the needs of ordinary Americans. The program's special inspector general, Neil M. Barofsky, concluded in March that the program "failed to meet some of its most important goals," most notably, its goal to help strapped homeowners keep their homes. 

Republicans criticized TARP as a bailout and vowed to cancel it. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., introduced legislation to repeal TARP on Jan. 5, 2011, soon after Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives. But there's been no congressional action on it since then.

Still, ending TARP faces more hurdles than just congressional inaction. Several experts we spoke said it may be too late to cancel TARP. Much of the program was in the form of loans to troubled financial companies, and many of those loans have now been paid back. So lawmakers could end the program, but it would probably not result in significant savings.

"I'm doubtful that TARP could be 'cancelled' in any meaningful way at this point," said Satya Thallam, director of the Financial Markets Working Group at George Mason University's conservative Mercatus Center.

To sum up, there hasn't been action on legislation would repeal TARP, and experts say repealing it would be a largely symbolic act. We're going to wait and see how events play out, but for now, we rate this promise Stalled.