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Saturday, November 14, 2009

What did the banks do with the billions in taxpayer-granted bailout funds that were supposed to jump-start the economy? Let's do an audit and find out

(The Hill) -- ...Let’s begin with a complete audit of all bailout programs initiated by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other relevant agencies. This audit would be all-inclusive, from top to bottom. It would include zero- to low-interest loans and financing facilities. It would include federal purchases of any form of financial instrument that was initiated in response to the financial crisis. It would include all forms of business and loan guarantees and every other program that helped any financial institution respond to the crisis. This would be an input-output audit. It would include accounting for every penny of the trillions of dollars spent in any aspect of the bailout. It would involve accounting for how the bailout money was spent, who received the bailout money and how recipient banks and Wall Street firms used the bailout money. For example, if banks were given zero-interest capital from the Fed, and loaned that capital through credit cards at 30 percent interest, taxpayers have a right to know this. If banks were given huge sums of zero or low-interest capital, and did not loan that money as intended, and then used that money for speculation or excessive compensation, taxpayers have a right to know this, too...--Brent Budowsky..Cont'd...LINK

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