It appears that one unknown Republican Senator, under the direction of George W Bush, is blocking the appointment of Bailout Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky while Paulson loots the treasury without adequate oversight.
It's politics as usual for the Bush/Cheney Administration who are determined to bailout their corporate and banking friends, without oversight, before they are forced to appoint a Special Inspector General ~ as mandated by Congress.
The Center for American Progress picks up the story from there under the title Pulling the Tarp Over Your Eyes: "When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson initially presented his plan for the $700 billionTroubled Assets Relief Program(TARP) to Congress, it wasthree pages long and included no oversight mechanism, stating that decisions by the Secretary are "committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Emphatically rejecting that approach, Congress crafted a series of supposed checks on Paulson's power to use the TARP -- including an independent inspector general and an oversight board appointed by both parties -- and required Paulson to ask Congress if he wanted to access further installments of the money, after the first $350 billion was exhausted. However, it has become clear that Paulson and the Treasury are increasingly operating without oversight of any kind. Despite repeated promises from lawmakers and Paulson himself,the allocation of the TARP funds do not appear to be receiving much scrutiny.
Oversight Failure
Paulson was able to change course with the TARP because of a breakdown in oversight and because the overall TARP structure declines to hold banks accountable. Elizabeth Warren, the chairwoman of the congressional oversight panel, said in an interview that the Treasury seems "to be lurching from one tactic to the next" but admits that the panel is "still in the early stages" of its research. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), meanwhile, said in a report released yesterday that "the Treasury Department has failed to address a number of critical issues while implementing the $700 billion financial rescue plan, including how to ensure its efforts are successful." The GAO report says that the Treasury "has no policies or procedures in place for ensuring the institutions...are using the capital investments in a manner that helps meet the purposes of the act," as banks have been using the funds to bolster their balance sheets and to make acquisitions, rather than lending. Treasury, meanwhile, "has not yet determined if it will impose reporting requirements on the participating financial institutions." Not all of the oversight failures are the Treasury's fault, however. The TARP legislation calls for a special inspector general to be appointed by the White House, which has nominated assistant U.S. attorney Neil Barofsky. However, his nomination is currently being blocked by an unknown Republican senator. Click Here.
Tell your Senators: The Inspector General for the Bailout Program must be confirmed. All Senators need to support accountability and demand their colleagues remove any holds on this nomination. Click on action link ~
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK.
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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