Legislators Urge Bailout Policing

Mark Ellis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:09:35 +0000

Just off the heels of watchdog Neil Barofskys’ report that revealed how many banks across the country are misusing the bailout funds that were meant to stimulate lending, two senior Democratic lawmakers have asked President Obama’s administration to put the mechanisms in the place that would make the $700 billion bailout more transparent to the American public.

Senator Max Baucus of Montana and Representative Edolphus Towns of New York have led the charge to petition Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to adopt the recommendations issued in the watchdog report. Baucus is the head of the Senate Finance Committee and Towns is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Although Barofsky did say in his report that the Treasury had adopted at least some of the recommendations that he issued, he also called for much for transparency on the part of the Treasury.
According to Barofsky, the Treasury should report exactly how much it has invested in banks and other financial institutions, as well as undertaking a variety of other actions that would allow the public to see where the bailout money is going.

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Legislators Urge Bailout Policing