<P> The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by a Democratic Party controlled Congress and signed into law by Republican Party President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008 . It was a component of the government's measures in 2008 to address the subprime mortgage crisis . </P> <P> The TARP program originally authorized expenditures of $700 billion . The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 created the TARP program . The Dodd--Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law in 2010, reduced the amount authorized to $475 billion . By October 11, 2012, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that total disbursements would be $431 billion, and estimated the total cost, including grants for mortgage programs that have not yet been made, would be $24 billion . </P>

What was the purpose of the troubled assets relief program (tarp) in late 2008