Gregg cheers Citigroup stock sale, Wall Street bailout

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is trumpeting the government's sale of stock in Citigroup as proof the $700 billion Wall Street bailout is a success.

"Today's announcement that Treasury will sell its shares of Citigroup is good news for the taxpayer and further proof that the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) worked as intended," Gregg said late on Monday. "This sale could result in a profit of nearly $7.5 billion, and these funds, by law, must go to pay down our massive federal debt."

Gregg support the TARP package when it was proposed by former President George W. Bush and passed by Congress in October 2008.

The financial bailout remains deeply unpopular, even as many economists and the Obama administration say it helped stabilize financial markets during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, Gregg hammered the Obama administration for using TARP money for other programs, such as a $600 million effort announced Monday to reduce housing problems in five states.

"TARP should not serve as the Obama piggy bank," Gregg said.