At the end of 2009, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner declared that this year will not bring another financial meltdown. As much as we all hope that this is true, it is getting more and more difficult to believe anything Geithner says. Not only was he head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the biggest corporate welfare bonanza ever, but the mainlining of funds from taxpayers to Wall Street has now been extended until at least October. Now, to top it all off, memos have surfaced outlining an elaborate hushing up by the New York Fed of the methods used to funnel billions to the largest banks during the mopping-up operations regarding AIG's failure.
It has certainly taken a long time for this issue to become front-page news. Back in early February 2009, an AP article by Jim Kuhnhenn cited a report released by the Congressional Oversight Panel that noted a $40 billion payout to AIG, funded by taxpayers, for a mere $14.8 billion in assets. It went on to state that overpayments to Wall Street totalled $78 billion. I remember reading another article that described so-called negotiators, pockets stuffed with our money, practically forcing the big banks to take these bloated payments in return for canceling AIG's liabilities. I am not being blithe here. While many of these banks were actually willing to take less than what was owed them, it seems that this was not allowed. They had to take more.
The government is finally admitting that it lost at least $30 billion on the AIG bailout. Now Geithner is taking heat for the huge AIG bonuses that were given out on his watch, as well as the secrecy surrounding the AIG bailout itself. Why was so much money essentially thrown away? The old adage to "follow the money" is useless here, as our government has shown itself incapable of doing anything of the kind. So, it seems they have chosen to follow Geithner, until he breaks down and gives everyone some answers. But, will we be able to believe him?
It has certainly taken a long time for this issue to become front-page news. Back in early February 2009, an AP article by Jim Kuhnhenn cited a report released by the Congressional Oversight Panel that noted a $40 billion payout to AIG, funded by taxpayers, for a mere $14.8 billion in assets. It went on to state that overpayments to Wall Street totalled $78 billion. I remember reading another article that described so-called negotiators, pockets stuffed with our money, practically forcing the big banks to take these bloated payments in return for canceling AIG's liabilities. I am not being blithe here. While many of these banks were actually willing to take less than what was owed them, it seems that this was not allowed. They had to take more.
The government is finally admitting that it lost at least $30 billion on the AIG bailout. Now Geithner is taking heat for the huge AIG bonuses that were given out on his watch, as well as the secrecy surrounding the AIG bailout itself. Why was so much money essentially thrown away? The old adage to "follow the money" is useless here, as our government has shown itself incapable of doing anything of the kind. So, it seems they have chosen to follow Geithner, until he breaks down and gives everyone some answers. But, will we be able to believe him?
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