TARP Inspector General Says The Tab Could Reach $23.7 TRILLION
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Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, delivered his report to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. And it ain’t pretty.
Barofsky, the top watch-dog over TARP, is a (thankfully) independent IG, one who is not appointed by Obama. IGs are tasked with impartially overseeing their respective tasks, Neil’s being the massive oversight of the TARP monster.
The $23.7 trillion figure is a high-ball number, reflecting the total potential gross exposure, but Barofsky’s prepared testimony details that the TARP, which started as a $700 billion bailout, has expanded well beyond that. And when you’re talking about a government spending program…you better keep that high-ball number soberly in mind. Barofsky elaborates:
“TARP has evolved into a program of unprecedented scope, scale and complexity. Moreover, TARP does not function in a vacuum but is rather part of the broader government efforts to stabilize the financial system,” the report says.
“The total potential federal government support could reach up to $23.7 trillion,” the report estimates, factoring in commitments from “dozens of programs” implemented throughout the federal government since 2007.
Barofsky’s office explains that the $23.7 trillion spans about 50 “initiatives or programs” created by federal agencies in the wake of the economic crisis. Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking Republican on the oversight committee, said in a written statement
“The potential financial commitment the American taxpayers could be responsible for is of a size and scope that isn’t even imaginable. If you spent a million dollars a day going back to the birth of Christ, that wouldn’t even come close to just $1 trillion — $23.7 trillion is a staggering figure.”
In his report, Barofsky also says that the Treasury Department has “repeatedly failed” to adopt recommendations that he believes will bring more transparency and accountability to the bailout. Sorry, Neil. Timmy Geithner and the Goldman Sachs gang don’t really do “transparency and accountability” well. It’s just not their thing.
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July 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Closing conservative shop…a fellow employee was wearing a McCain pin during the elections and an NWA elite passenger who thinks they have the right to dictate our basic rights complained to the company and made him remove it. Those that wore Obama items were not asked to remove them. I read recently that Obama stands for One Big Astounding Mistake America!