Give Back

When the big bailout happened here in the US middle income to lower income people all across the country grew infuriated. Banks and other financial institutions engaged in all manner of irresponsible lending and investment practices and their comeuppance was a fat check to bail them out. That was bad. That it was taxpayer dollars used to grease their wheels, was even worse. Compounding matters was the fact taxpayers had no say in the bailout.

Perhaps the worst part was the utter lack of transparency regarding who exactly got the money and how much. After all, the majority of Americans were not responsible for the lack of financial discipline that ended in T.A.R.P., nor the ensuing measures meant to keep credit flowing and our economy from total freefall.

With the large amounts of money thrown at the problem coaxed from the pockets of taxpayers why shouldn’t there be a measure of disclosure? Why exactly shouldn’t we know the names of the corporations in whose pockets our money ended? It isn’t as though it’s information regarding the location of pending military targets or troop movements. This was essentially loans to ailing businesses, and as investors it seems only right we be able to access the map and follow the trail.

When Independent Representative from Vermont Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment to allow Congress to audit the Fed regarding emergency fund distribution we moved a step closer to the American taxpayer having transparency regarding the Fed. Given what financial institutions reaped while seeming to simultaneously smirk at hard working Americans, it’s time they get corralled. We earned the money and through no fault of our own we watched it flow to those only interested in thickening their pockets with our cash.

Representative Saunders stated the specifics, “have been worked out with Sen. (Chris) Dodd and would allow the GAO to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending activities since December 1, 2007. In addition, the modifications require the fed to put on its web site all of the recipients of over $2 trillion in emergency assistance since December 1, 2007.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/05/obama-admin-warms-to-retooled.html)

Although the Fed’s authority to set monetary policy has been preserved due to compromises, the measure would allow us to follow how our money was used and who it went to. The bailouts helped steady the economy and some results of the overall stimulus are becoming increasingly apparent. Consumer confidence is up and some of the money has already been paid back. In some cases recipients of taxpayer funds have paid back their loans in full and ahead of schedule.

Still, there are so many places where the line between government and private industry is too close for comfort and where private money influences public policy. We need more transparency to discover this line for ourselves, and know further who is in the pockets of what special interests. The financial regulatory overhaul is a decent step towards ensuring another disaster like the one we just went through be avoided.

The Sanders amendment will be an excellent start towards keeping the line between the fed and financial institutions open and more transparent for the American people - if it gets through - though many believe American taxpayers don’t deserve to find out where their money goes. Transparency is crucial not only to restoring trust in our government, but also to better understand the relationship between moneyed interests and government. Certain members of congress introduced a bill this past week to, “require corporations, unions, trade associations and advocacy groups to identify themselves on advertisements they pay for. Chief executives would have to offer an ‘I approved this message’ endorsement similar to those of candidates running campaign commercials.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02address.html)

We have members of intelligence services taking US secrets over to private security companies and using the training we paid for either to come back as ‘private consultants’ to the intelligence community at twice the price or they take that knowledge to do private work for corporations or other countries. We never know where the money is going due to a law from 1949 that has never been amended to allow us to know where the money is going and how much. Here too the line between government and private industry is too close for comfort, but we never know the exact extent because we are not allowed to discover who is getting what and where it’s coming from. Either way it’s our money they’re squandering.

We have a right to know when private industries reap huge profits from taxpayer chests. The arguments over the years for private corporations being cozy with government have been many, but they always seem to come from those who benefit from them the most. In the end it makes no sense not to tell us where the money is going. It’s our cash and our right. Open the books so we can connect the dots.

To read more about my experiences with harassment at The University of Connecticut go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.