January 19, 2009
Literally trillions of dollars have been distributed by the Federal Reserve since Election Day. Just this past week, President-elect Obama and President Bush double-teamed Congressional leaders to ensure the passage of a controversial bill that would release all remaining bailout funds as quickly as possible. The beneficiaries of the bailout, however, have not been asked—much less ordered—to disclose how these immense amounts of taxpayer money have been or will be spent. There has been no oversight by the Senate or Congress as to where these trillions of dollars have gone. The powers that be on Wall Street have simply been handed this money with a vague expectation it will be used wisely.
Wisely for the benefit of whom? It is evident these trillions of dollars have not helped the real economy, the one that provides work for people who rely on their work for a living. Yes, Wall Street is doing fine. They are back at it, loaning each other money and bailing out rich clients who are busy laying off workers, cutting benefits of workers, closing businesses and filing for bankruptcy protection.
President-elect Obama’s appointee to be Secretary of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, has been Federal Reserve Governor for New York since 2003. Because Wall Street has been his territory for years, he has helped create the massive financial crisis our country now faces. Yet he has been tapped to replace Henry Paulson and to continue his failed policies. And he has not been expected to answer any questions regarding the use of immense taxpayer-funded bailout payments.
What did our U.S. Senators “grill” Geithner on at his high-profile confirmation hearings last week? The fact that he failed to pay self-employment taxes and failed to realize a former housekeeper’s immigration status changed while she worked for him. Are these details of Geithner’s past of vital concern to the American people? Will they shed light on his involvement in Wall Street activities or his plans for saving America from its current debilitating financial crisis? Geithner is the only nominee who could and should be questioned about where bailout funds have gone thus far. These are the critical issues that ought to be addressed during his confirmation hearings.
On November 7, 2008, the international independent financial news service Bloomberg News filed for information under the Freedom of Information Act regarding how the trillions of dollars allocated through the bailout bill were being used. For more details, view this November video in which a Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief discusses the filing. The video link is provided via BrassCheck TV.
The filing of such a law suit by a news agency is necessary because our elected officials in the U.S. Senate are working in a bi-partisan fashion to thwart the best interests of the citizens. If this is the sort of bi-partisan problem-solving touted by our Congressional leaders and the old and new White House, we are in serious trouble.
As is stated in this video, there exists a significant lack of transparency between the powers that be in Washington regarding what they know about the powers that be on Wall Street and the American people. While taxpayers are expected to foot the bills for multiple bailouts, they are not given easy access to the facts behind the need for such bailouts. As is also stated in this video, we cannot begin to address the massive financial crisis we face until we all understand the problems that caused the crisis in the first place.
Knowledge is power.
In that spirit, we at Imagine A Great Election are preparing to launch the Know Something Project, an umbrella site linked to resources that explore literature and law, poetry and politics, with the ultimate goal of presenting information readers will not only appreciate, but will use to effect positive change in their world. Meanwhile, we will also continue to analyze what’s going on before our eyes. With great hope that the new administration will indeed bring significant change for good, we remain determined to analyze varied aspects of the administration’s structure and policies. As we prepare to watch the Obama inaugural on January 20, we must keep in mind that the Center for Responsive Politics has reported that top executives of corporations benefitting from the current financial bailout have contributed with their family members more than $7 million to the Obama inaugural committee. We must keep in mind that more than $27 million more in donations have come from a few well-connected “bundlers,” corporate executives and others who collect contributions from colleagues and associates and donate them in their own names. More than half of these bundlers also bundled donations for the Obama campaign.
One might ask if this isn’t simply the way things are done in Washington. One might ask if President-elect Obama doesn’t deserve the opportunity to enjoy an inauguration as polished and glamorous as any other president’s, an inauguration that costs a lot of money to produce. But one is also right to ask whether it is right for an American presidential inauguration to be funded by wealthy private donors, many of whom are corporate executives eager to endear themselves to a new president, especially a new president ultimately in charge of doling out funds to corporations in need. Americans not only have the right to ask such tough questions of any administration, they have the responsibility to ask—and demand answers to—such tough questions.
—Sherry Seiber
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