President Joe Biden on Sunday took credit for creating a new lending mechanism to backstop banks after the banking meltdown over the weekend in which two banks collapsed due in part to increased interest rates meant to tamp down Biden’s soaring inflation.
The new facility, dubbed the “Bank Term Funding Program,” will provide liquidity “to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Chair Martin Gruenberg announced Sunday.
The extraordinary measure quickly erected before markets opened Monday was praised by Biden, who also took credit for the financial invention.
“At my direction, @SecYellen and my National Economic Council Director worked with banking regulators to address problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank,” Biden’s Twitter account posted. “I’m pleased they reached a solution that protects workers, small businesses, taxpayers, and our financial system.”
Biden’s decision to take credit for the new lending facility appears to contradict his prior position earlier in the day. According to Fox Business, Biden was opposed to extending deposit insurance to those who deposited more than $250,000 in banks, which the new invention now protects.
“Silicon Valley VCs/CEOs getting word from @WhiteHouse that @JoeBiden is against any bailout of SVB like extending deposit insurance well above $250k,” Fox Business’s Charles Gasparino scooped. “That could change if @federalreserve does believe there’s some systemic risk of bank runs, which there is evidence.”
