Don't blame just the banks for refusing to tell anyone how they're using bailout dollars. Blame Congress for authorizing $700 billion of taxpayer money with virtually no strings attached. And Treasury officials for never asking questions.
These days, you couldn't borrow a cent from a bank without completing mountains of paperwork explaining how you would use the cash. And if you didn't spend the money as you promised, the bank probably would ...
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I'll be tracking this Watergate-caliber story on NewsTrust to keep focus on the Traitorous American Robbery Program, aka "Troubled Assets Relief Program." This editorial argues as I have for the past several weeks--that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson should be investigated. The editorial correctly notes that the issue is not whether throwing $700 billion at the economy did any good (it had BETTER!); but that secrecy will keep taxpayers wondering how much was picked from their empty pockets.
Paulson soon will be out of a job. See what firm hires him and if it got TARP funds. I wrote an op-ed on this for my local newspaper, challenging it to grill Iowa banks to ascertain the 5 Ws and H of journalism: What did banks get from TARP and when, who received the money and why, and where and how was it used. NewsTrust viewers might challenge hometown newspapers, too. If banks using taxpayer funds refuse to answer basic questions, citizens have to expose this from the grassroots.
Congress should demand a full accounting from the executives whose firms have received federal assistance. And Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who prodded Congress to ... More »
This editorial presents some reasonable requirements that should be made of those who dole out bailout funds, and also on the firms that receive those funds.
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