The Public Policy
TARP and the Demands of Democracy
What are bailout recipients doing with the money they've received? The Obama administration doesn't want you know.
The concern among the American people about the size and cost of government continues to grow, and the Obama administration is beginning to experience a crisis of confidence doubtlessly owed to its aggressive expansion of the federal bureaucracy and deepening of the national debt. Members of Congress -- who have the power of the purse in our constitutional democracy -- know that we answer, ultimately, to the voters for the way that taxpayer dollars are spent. That's why Congress created the Office of Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) to monitor the way Treasury spends the $700 billion bailout program.
Back in April, Congress learned that Treasury pursued a formal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice in an effort to limit SIGTARP Neil Barofsky's independence and bring him under the direct supervision of Secretary Geithner. In July, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from SIGTARP Barofsky that highlighted the Treasury Department's failures to protect taxpayers from the kind of fraud that undermines the American people's faith in their government.
Americans instinctively love their country, but they don't really like their government. Indeed, James Madison's classic line from Federalist 51 -- "if men were angels, there would be no need for government" -- presupposes the impossibility of a perfect government and leaves the people with, at best, the hope of a good government.
By good government, Americans mean a government limited in size and honest in action. Without independent oversight of the administration, the taxpaying public would have no guarantee that their hard-earned money -- reluctantly forfeited in the form of taxes to support the work of government -- is well spent. Americans have no patience for wasteful government, and they are acutely aware that the less transparent the government, the worse it will be.
When President Obama came to office, he promised an administration with "the highest degree of accountability and transparency possible." As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama railed against the Bush Administration's "failure to track how the money has been spent."
Yet Americans are learning from SIGTARP Barofsky that they will not be told what TARP recipients are doing with bailout money, how much their substantial investments are worth, or how their money is being invested. The shroud of secrecy that the Obama administration has attempted to place over its bailout efforts is a brazen act of executive usurpation and political doublespeak. It is also an affront to democracy itself.
For democracy is the expression of popular sovereignty, namely, that the only good governments are those that reflect the will of the people and the rule of law. Exit polls from last year's election demonstrated that the people elected Barack Obama, in part, because they wanted more accountability and transparency in Washington. They wanted a change from secret deals to spend billions of tax dollars without any thought of a crushing national debt. They wanted the windows of government thrown open so that liberty's fresh air could reinvigorate the nation, economically and politically.
On too many fronts the Obama administration has broken its promise of change. Attempts to limit the autonomy and authority of SIGTARP are but another instance of the brass-knuckled politics that the Senator from Chicago brought with him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Neil Barofsky has done a great service to his country by refusing to roll.
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Ken (Old Texican)| 9.10.09 @ 9:49AM
Mr. Issa thank you for your insights.
Dubyah's guy, Paulson panicked, but the worst part of the whole deal were the jackbooted ones who followed Bush into the whitehouse so soon after.
Truly, the thing that worried me most about the Patriot Act was wondering who was going to oversee it in later years after Bush was retired.
Same bunch administering TARP...gulp.
Sir, I am absolutely convinced that the 2010 elections are our very last hope of retaining the kind of country we all want to live in. If we can find and elect a BUNCH of courageous limited government Senators and congress people, we can turn it all around and cripple the, (pardon the shorthand), communists' agenda.
Please folks, find out who the best candidates are in your area and get them nominated...then elected.
I shall not expose TEAM America's strategies in this forum, but they will work. I hope those of you who do care about freedom here, will join us.
www.myteamusa.org
Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 9.10.09 @ 11:38AM
Windbag alert! You have been warned!
As I have posted elsewhere, I don’t understand the stock market. Every economic indicator, such as the unemployment rate, new unemployment claims, foreclosures, the deficit, the debt and so on tells me that we are headed for a serious collapse fueled by inflation in the near future. Yet the Dow is trending back up. What gives?
I subscribe to a newsletter sent by World Currency Watch called FX University Daily. FX is short for Forex, jargon for Foreign Exchange. I cannot link to this email, but I’ll forward it to everyone sending me a request. Yesterday’s edition which I opened this morning contained the following article: The Market Manipulators (And the Four Suspicious Stocks Suddenly Leading the Market) By Chuck Butler of FX University Daily (A Publication of World Currency Watch); Email dated September 9, 2009 at 7:31PMET:
“Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you!
“If you’ve been reading my commentaries for the past couple months, you know that I’ve been calling for the economy to crash and burn for some time.
“So far, no sign of crashing or burning – at least, not yet.
“But the more I research (and I study these things day in and day out), the more I see that the “manipulators” in the market may not let that happen. I’m talking about the Fed, the Treasury, and the government as a whole.
“For instance, I was doing some research the other day, and came across something that plays well with my manipulation theory. The stocks of Fannie, Freddie, AIG, and Citicorp now account for over 40% of the volume each day in the stock market. Usually, these four stocks account for only 0.3%.
“Now you may notice that all four were cautionary tales over the last two years. They nearly went bankrupt and Uncle Sam had to rush to the rescue to bail them out.
“What's going on here folks?
“Well, for starters, it doesn’t take an economist to notice that markets keep climbing, while the practically government-owned stocks make up 40% of the market volume. Looks to me like somebody’s buying up stocks to make it look like the markets are performing better than they actually are.
“On a related note, I read somewhere last night that we’re seeing a complete collapse of consumer borrowing here in the United States. Hmmm... Well, on one hand, if that's true, that would mean that consumer spending is down, and saving has replaced it. That would be a good thing!
“On the other hand consumer spending makes up 70% of our economy. Or I should say it did make up 70% of our economy! If we're going to see a further slowing of spending, then you can kiss the thought of a "V" shaped recession good-bye! Bye now... Don't go away mad... Just go away!
“But, then maybe there won't be any crashing and burning as long as the markets are manipulated…and our government keeps pouring money into mismanaged companies.
“That's it for today. So it's 9-9-09. Pretty cool, eh? Speaking of pretty cool... I got up this morning, and watched the 9th inning of the Cardinals / Brewers game last night, as I can rarely stay up for an entire game during the week. The Brewers closer, a future Hall of Famer on the hill, and Matt Holiday hits a two-run homer to win the game! WOW! I was clapping, and hootin' and hollerin' and it was 4:00 in the morning!
“Time to get this Wonderful Wednesday going…Have a great one!”
So if Butler is correct, the biggest investor with the urge to buy is either tax-cheat timmy or fed chair benny. This means they are playing the market with our money. Boy I’d like to play the ponies with your money. The duller index went below 77 (76.99) yesterday, The U.N. is calling for a new currency to replace the duller as the international medium of exchange, the Chi-koms also are looking for a means of dumping the duller. However, they are so heavily invested in the U.S. economy that it’s not an easy task. The irony, of course, is that timmie and bennie are actually spending yuan to inflate the market.
For those who don’t know, the duller index is a number calculated by evaluating the exchange rate of the duller for selected foreign currencies. In general, it’s good if the number increases, bad when it doesn’t. I started tracking the DI last July 13. It was 80.13 then. Yesterday, when I checked, it was 76.99. Bear in mind that this number is in constant flux as the international currency market does not close for the simple reason that it is global in nature. I use Bloomberg’s DI value [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DXY:IND]. I don’t link to Bloomberg at the same time every day, but do try to do so before 5 PM ET. At 10:53 AM ET today, it was 76.92. Oops. Keeping in mind that currency fluctuations often occur at the fourth decimal point, a drop of 0.07 points is big. The value I use for tracking is the one posted after Wall Street closes at 4 PM ET. This tells me that even at $1,000 an ounce, gold might still be a buy. Needs further research. But the four major metals: gold, silver, platinum and palladium all posted new for me tops yesterday. Their values fluctuate constantly for the same reason the DI does. I track their values at Northwest Territorial Mint [http://bullion.nwtmint.com/pricing.php].
Something’s going on to cause a DI drop like that. The only news I’m hearing on the radio that might have this big an impact on the duller is obumassiah’s tirade last night. Didn’t watch it. Instead I watched a guvernator movie about cloning. I did hear a kon-grrs-mon called the golden calf a liar but then apologized. That kon-grrs-mon should apologize for apologizing. Never apologize for telling the truth. The lord of the flies oozes falsehood from every pore. I’ll call him a liar. I’m only sorry he is a liar, that he is destroying my country with his deceptions and distortions, and that his sorry a$$ sits in the oval office. That’s the apology Wilson should have issued.
If interested in FX University, subscribe to their newsletter. Simply go to http://www.worldcurrencywatch......ity-daily/
and click [SIGN UP] which is in the upper right corner. Who knows? This might start you on a new career.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
Don’t Tread on Me!!
Dagny Taggert| 9.10.09 @ 12:04PM
Gil: I don't buy into conspiracy theories on the market. FNM, FRE, C are all very cheap (
Oldefarte| 9.10.09 @ 12:40PM
Never before in my 60+ years on earth has our government been so corrupt and deceptive [and purposely so]. The 'CHANGE' that I'm hoping for will begin with the 2010 elections!!!!!
Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 9.10.09 @ 12:54PM
Dagny, your argument is not with me. I simply reported Butler’s research, and if he is correct that the four companies he mentioned are accounting for 40% of the market by volume, then your unwillingness to buy into this might be as wise as your brother.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
Don’t Tread on Me!!
ptson| 9.10.09 @ 2:58PM
If every share of each of those four stocks traded twice a day it would not account for 1% of the volumn. The theft of GM and Chrysler begs the questions: What can't be stolen? And who is safe? That the thieves are not going to pay the money they borrowed from the treasury to commit the fraud and theft is a suprise? Chicago and Union THUGS have no honor, imagine that?
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S Greg Gill| 9.10.09 @ 3:59PM
Bravo Congressman Issa,
Well thought out viewpoint, and one that needs broader exposure.
Escondido Jim| 9.11.09 @ 12:43AM
Way to go, Congressman Issa. You make us in North San Diego county proud. Hold the feet of this most corrupt administration ever to the fire until we have a chance to throw them out.
Joe Pazdur| 9.11.09 @ 3:07AM
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