The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold
Could it be that the bailout was one of the greatest swindles ever sold? Well, Andy Kroll Shares his thoughts below.
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(H/T To Skeptical CPA for finding this article)
Introduction (Via the Nation.com)
On October 3, as the spreading economic meltdown threatened to topple financial behemoths like American International Group (AIG) and Bank of America and plunged global markets into freefall, the US government responded with the largest bailout in American history. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, better known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), authorized the use of $700 billion to stabilize the nation’s failing financial systems and restore the flow of credit in the economy.
The legislation’s guidelines for crafting the rescue plan were clear: the TARP should protect home values and consumer savings, help citizens keep their homes and create jobs. Above all, with the government poised to invest hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in various financial institutions, the legislation urged the bailout’s architects to maximize returns to the American people.
Additional Excerpts (Via The Nation.Com)
What cannot be disputed, however, is the financial bailout’s biggest loser: the American taxpayer. The US government, led by the Treasury Department, has done little, if anything, to maximize returns on its trillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded investment. So far, the bailout has favored rescued financial institutions by subsidizing their losses to the tune of $356 billion, shying away from much-needed management changes and–with the exception of the automakers–letting companies take taxpayer money without a coherent plan for how they might return to viability.
The newer bailout programs rolled out by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner give private equity firms, hedge funds and other private investors significant leverage to buy “toxic” or distressed assets, while leaving taxpayers stuck with the lion’s share of the risk and potential losses.
1. By overpaying for its TARP investments, the Treasury Department provided bailout recipients with generous subsidies at the taxpayer’s expense.
2. As the government has no real oversight over bailout funds, taxpayers remain in the dark about how their money has been used and if it has made any difference.
3. The bailout’s newer programs heavily favor the private sector, giving investors an opportunity to earn lucrative profits and leaving taxpayers with most of the risk.
4. The government has no coherent plan for returning failing financial institutions to profitability and maximizing returns on taxpayers’ investments.
5. The bailout’s focus on Wall Street mega-banks ignores smaller banks serving millions of American taxpayers that face an equally uncertain future.
The bailout encourages the very behaviors that created the economic crisis in the first place instead of overhauling our broken financial system and helping the individuals most affected by the crisis.
Click Here To Read About The Bailout: The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold
