Boehner: Using TARP money to pay for jobs bill would be 'mistake'

House Republicans on Thursday signaled they were unlikely to support Democrats' plan to pay for their forthcoming "job stimulus" bill using unspent bank bailout cash.

At the conclusion of this afternoon's GOP "job summit" -- House Republicans' answer to a similar forum hosted by the president at the White House Thursday -- Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) described the majority party's proposed funding mechanism as a fiscal mistake.

He instead implored Democrats to return any unused money from last year's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to federal coffers in order to address the country's rising deficit.

"The TARP money was intended to solve an economic emergency in the financial sector. And now that that money is being paid back, it should be used to lower the federal budget deficit and the national debt," Boehner told reporters alongside conservative economists.

"This idea that we're going to take this money that's being paid back to the government and then turn around and spend it on useless government programs is a very big mistake," he added.

Interestingly enough, Democrats' promised jobs package could prove to be a difficult sell: While both parties have ramped up their rhetoric on jobs recently, neither is willing to risk introducing an expensive bill that could further add to the deficit.

Initial estimates reveal Democrats' proposal could cost as much as $300 billion. That means its offsets, including the proposed use of TARP funds, are essential if the party's leadership hopes to convince the chamber's deficit hawks to vote for the bill.

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