Wall Street firms who were bailed out by taxpayers last fall are once again reporting record profits and giving out record bonuses.

But at the time that Congress approved the $700 Billion bailout last October, what were Jim Cooper's concerns? As he expressed them Politico, it was that the bailout wasn't big enough:

Jim Cooper, Rep. (D-Tenn.):

"Is the bail-out big enough? No, this is not a joke. The Administration has consistently underestimated the problem; only three days ago they thought 500 billion was enough. The fire extinguisher must be able to handle the fire. You don't want to do this twice. How convenient for President Bush if, four months from now, President Obama has to ask for the bail-out authority that Bush should be asking for today."

How "fiscally conservative" of this Blue Dog leader.

In the months since he argued for an even larger bailout of Wall Street, Cooper's appetite for spending on anything other than bailing out Wall Street has grown decidedly weaker. He voted against President Obama's economic recovery act in February, claiming that it was too full of "pork", like funding for Nashville schools:

“I love Obama, but I’m disappointed with Congress for its business-as-usual attitude. The bill is loaded with pork. Half of it had nothing to do with stimulus. Only 5 percent has to do with the infrastructure projects that most people in the public think is in the bill. It was the largest bill in American history, by far, and one of the most wasteful,” Cooper said. “It’s likely it will only get worse when it goes to the Senate.”...

Cooper, for his part, said he could see the construction allocations creating jobs, and that he would love to “play Santa Claus” and approve a $76 million check for Metro schools. That doesn’t mean Congress should be spending borrowed money in order to do so, he said.

“[The education allocations] tempt a lot of people back home to want a federal solution to everything. If we had the money, we’d be glad to share it, but we’re borrowing this from China,” Cooper said. "I would love to be able to write a check for $76 million for Nashville schools. But do you want a federal takeover of the schools? Most federal money comes with strings attached, if not immediately then eventually.”

And even before President Obama was sworn in, Cooper was arguing for a "fiscal responsibility" summit to be included in the recovery act that would have addressed cuts in things like Social Security.

Shorter Jim Cooper: deficit spending doesn't matter, as long as Wall Street gets the money.