WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Both budget and political realities are putting the squeeze on U.S. Treasury policy decisions, a policy expert said.
"Their huge problem is that the American public is not willing to accept large losses for large financial institutions," said American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Vincent Reinhart, The New York Times reported Monday.
At the same time, "everything they are doing is about having the smallest possible footprint on the federal budget," Reinhart said.
Money is scarce. The Treasury has less than $300 billion remaining from the $700 billion rescue plan passed in October -- and some estimates put the size of the trouble assets still on bank's ledgers at $2 trillion, the newspaper said.
Treasury officials say they will not have detailed regulatory plans in place for the April 2 summit meeting in London of G20 nations. In addition, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's team has yet to announce details for taking toxic assets off the nation's banks' ledgers.
Meanwhile, Geithner's time is stretched, said a senior aide waiting in the wings waiting for his nomination.
"The problem is ... other than Geithner, there's nobody else to make the case in public for these policies," the aide said.
