Bank Bailout May Hurt Taxpayers, Be Open To Fraud

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

(04-20) 21:27 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Taxpayers are increasingly exposed to losses and the government is more vulnerable to fraud under Obama administration initiatives that have created a federal bank bailout program of "unprecedented scope," a government report finds.

In a 250-page quarterly report to Congress, the rescue program's special inspector general concludes that a private-public partnership designed to rid financial institutions of their "toxic assets" is tilted in favor of private investors and creates "potential unfairness to the taxpayer."

The report, which examines the six-month old, $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, is scheduled for release Tuesday.

Using blunt language, Inspector General Neil Barofksy offers a series of recommendations to protect the public and takes the Treasury to task for not implementing previous advice. The report also commends Treasury and the Federal Reserve for creating some safeguards.

The report's warnings about the public-private plan's potential for losses echoes alarms raised by some lawmakers and economists, but Barofksy has significant credibility in Congress and his views are likely to carry ample weight.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/20/national/w210204D79.DTL

[TheWatcher]

1. Hmmmm. Some Typos in that headline.

Here, allow me to assist:

::Takes Out Red Pen::

Bank Bailout Will Hurt Taxpayers, And Is Wide Open To Fraud.

THERE. MUCH Better.

[Kablooie]

2. Crimes suspected in 20 bailout cases -- for starters

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles -- In the first major disclosure of corruption in the $750-billion financial bailout program, federal investigators said Monday they have opened 20 criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax violations, insider trading and other crimes.

The cases represent only the first wave of investigations, and the total fraud could ultimately reach into the tens of billions of dollars, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general overseeing the bailout program.

The disclosures reinforce fears that the hastily designed and rapidly changing bailout program run by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve is going to carry a heavy price of fraud against taxpayers -- even as questions grow about its ability to stabilize the nation's financial system.

The report said little about who is under investigation and how the fraudulent schemes work, but investigators are already on alert for a long list of potential scams. Such schemes could include obtaining bailout money under false pretenses, bilking the government with phony mortgage modifications, and cheating on taxes with fraudulent filings.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tarp-fraud21-2009apr21,0,2443377.story?track=rss

---

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Now THIS could get interesting.

[givemebackmycountry]

3. Well gee... That's surprising.

They lied, stole, and cheated with THEIR money.
And now they lied, stole, and cheated with OUR money.

What a shock!

It's what they do.
And we were stupid enough to help them out.

[truedelphi]

4. Neil Barofsky is perhaps the only honest one of the lot of Obama's economic appointees

That were chosen.

How that happened I don't know. He has a huge job ahead of him. And I would live close to my job so I wouldn't have to turn the key in my ignition, and definitely stay out of small planes, if I were him.

[rollingrock]

5. Like Krugman and the top economists were saying all along

All the crooked top management of these bailout companies should have been canned and replaced from the start. These people simply can't be trusted and their companies should have been allowed to go under. But who listens to people like Paul Krugman and William Black anymore, right Mr. Geithner? Unlike yourself they're just a couple of fancy Nobel economists with no 'practical' industry experience. :eyes:

[No Elephants]

6. Gee, who could've seen that one coming? Well, maybe

lawmakers could have--and should have.

I cannot believe our "representatives" in Congress. They let Bushco railroad them into a lousy war resolution with a Chicken Little dog and pony show put on by Rumsfeld, Condi, et al, with the help of the media, especially the Sunday talking heads shows.

Pass it NOW! Or Hussein will kill us all with his double secret, ever-moving WMD's that no inspectors can ever find unless they stay awake 24/7.

With only the briefest of hesitation and the fakest of lame conditions, our so-called representatives in Congress, to their everlasting shame, snapped to. With that monumentally stupid enabling by Congress, ao began perhaps the biggest debacle of Bush's first term.

Outsmarted by Dummya!!!111!!! Almost every Democrat in Congress at the time.


You'd think out "representatives" would have learned their lesson, but nooooooo. They let Buscho railroad them into a lousy TARP resolution with a Chicken Little dog and pony show put on by Paulson and Bernanke, also with the help of the Sunday talking heads shows.

Pass it NOW! Place no conditions on the money! This is the only alternative to instant world wide depression FOREVER!!111!!

With only the briefest of hesitation and the fakest of lame conditions, our so-called representatives in Congress, to their everlasting shame, snapped to. With that monumentally stupid enabling by Congress, so began perhaps the biggest debacle of Bush's second term.

Outsmarted by Dummya!!!111!!! Almost every Democrat in Congress at the time.

Frickin' AGAIN!!!1111!!!

Only this time, Bush's delivered his kick in the ass to America on his way out of the Oval Office, so it looks like it's Obama's fault.

The founders wanted three branches of government, with Congress being the strongest branch, but, despite all the powers given it by the Constitution, a roll over Congress is giving us only the Unitary Executive.

PRIMARY them! And let everyone of them know why.

[Optical.Catalyst]

7. So the Main $tream Media is already assigning blame to the Obama administration

Right off the bat they say

under Obama administration initiatives

but then they say

The report, which examines the six-month old, $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program

Gee, President Obama was not in office SIX months ago.

The Bush Administration wrecks the economy, then forks up billions of taxpayer dollars to cover their mistakes, rewards their fat-can big business buddies with plenty of cash, and leaves the Democrats holding the bag.

The real kick in the head is the M$M is putting the responsibility on President Obama for not fixing a problem that took eight years to create in his first three months using a flawed program cooked up by the very crooks that caused the problem.

I would end by saying "I don't believe it!", unfortunately I do believe it.

[truedelphi]

8. Yep, the M$M is greatly unfair. But then look at who owns the media and

There is no surprise.

When the indigent population of Chiapas rose up against their oppression, it went on as national news for a week. young journalists went down to that province in Meco and reported eagerly on the developments (circa January 1994)

Then that Friday, Nancy Kerrigan's knee got bonked by Tonya Harding's posse, and the media suddenly "unreported" the Chiapas' uprising.

Why? Years later a small paragraph in Rolling Stone detailied how Citibank quashed the story.

This is one reason why those of us very critical of Obama's economic team have wanted him to wake up and choose others. The situation will not be blamed on Bush at all; that truth will be conveniently forgotten.

But then, since Obama's policies so much resemble Bush's, especially in terms of dooming the middle incomed and lower classes, it will somewhat be his very own fault.

[jpak]

9. Fraud -> Prosecution -> Jail - Do Not Pass Go

the end

[Vidar]

10. Stating the obvious, but it needs to be said --often & loudly.