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October 21, 2008
Bailout transparency
Was over before it began, according to a site that is tracking the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
BailoutSleuth.com (via TechDirt) has been examining all of the bailout documents released by the Treasury Department and is finding page after page of redacted data, often related to how much money companies will earn for their work with our money. (You'll remember that the first bailout vote in Congress failed, largely because representatives were inundated with calls from angry citizens about the bailout's lack of transparency.)
If a company showed as much contempt for its investors at this administration does for its citizens, the penalties would be significant. Transparency is not conveniently relevant to a desired outcome.
Other blogs that reference Bailout transparency:
I believe I am on the record in this space of being against this fiasco from the very beginning!
Do you think this is going to get any better, if this is how it is starting out?
Heh -- Yes, we have you on record for that vote, Sen. Kless!
I saw the bailout as necessary. Lawmakers allowed Wall Street investment banks to 1. Drive any speed they wanted 2. Get drunk while driving.
Of course, a drunk and disorderly Wall Street crashed the bus we're all riding in while doing 110 mph in a school zone. We have to put that aside, right the bus, fix it quickly -- then update the traffic laws so it's not so easy for Wall Street to crash the damn bus again.
Will it get better? If it ever does, probably not until after Nov. 4.
My prediction, no way! This will continue to be a disaster.
Law makers created the incentive to drive drunk and told them it was legal. If they had stayed out it in the first place...
There are no heroes here. McBama (whoever wins) will be burdened with the same problem - and this I bet you and I agree on - big business and/or big government ARE the problem. The entrepreneur IS/WAS/WILL BE the solution!
Next time I am in Austin (probably February) the drinks at Ginger Man are on me!
BTW - I did not respond to you swipe at Cato and AEI on the previous post. Instead I will let them do the talking on "splurge."
This article from !1997! predicts the problems with Fannie & Freddie --> http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1152&full=1
If you don't want to read the entire article, I post the operative quote:
Because of their quasi-governmental status, there is a market perception that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities and debt carry an implicit federal guarantee against default. Hence, the GSEs expose the federal taxpayer to an ever-increasing potential contingent liability that could ultimately cost tens of billions of dollars to rectify.
Only thing they got wrong was it turned out to be hundreds of billions, not tens of billions.
Ed -- Agreed, no heroes here amidst this mess and whoever the next president is, he'll have a big, fat mess in his lap.
The story of why the banks collapsed is complex and so, to a large degree, reflective of the ideology of the storyteller.
Which leads to my bone of contention about Cato and AEI: They see everything through one lens: government regulation is bad. That's an ideology I cannot embrace. Cato is the worst at sacrificing common sense upon the altar of ideology.
That all said, you get the first round of drinks; I'll get the second!
Great Thoughts on this topic - I really enjoyed reading this Post, and enjoyed some of the other comments :)
yes I would definitely suggest that they make it very transparent... the money that they will be using came from my purse as taxpayer.. it's my money..i want full transparency for this
