Thursday, December 25, 2008
Congress needs to address the lack of bailout oversight. I do not understand how the GAO can report that we are not getting information re: how the $350B released to a few specific banks is being used. Even more unbelievable is that when asked by Congress what the Treasury is going to do about this, the response from the Administration is that they are not going to find out how the money is being used. They are going to rely on broad measures to see if the the $350B taxpayer investment is having any impact on credit availability. What if these measures eventually shows that these banks are not using the money to effect liquidity? Why can't Congress demand that Treasury set up oversight of how these dollars are being used?
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If Congress finds that its investment is not affecting credit availability, our Senators and Representatives will likely shrug their shoulders. Meanwhile, the average taxpayer will have contributed over $1000 to this economic experiment. In 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote that in terms of the collection and expenditure of tax dollars, Congress should “adopt the mode most consonant with the circumstances and sentiments of the country.” I don’t think Americans are looking favorably on the banks that have received this bailout money, and until they do, Congress has a responsibility to oversee our investment. Is this lack of oversight simply negligence, or is it a deliberate effort to ensure the fiscal security of friends and contributors?
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