Is Congress Still Asleep At The Switch?

Question 1: Who does Neel Kashkari think he is?

Mr. Neel Kashkari, who is managing the $700 billion dollar bailout seems confused about who he is working for. Just to be clear; Mr. Kashkari, is working for the American taxpayers. And that means he is accountable to them for how he manages their money. So, enough with the impatience and resistance to answering questions that was reported in the November 11 New York Post..

When Kashkari was at Goldman Sachs, he worked with little or no government regulation, a situation that brought the American economy to its knees. Now, for reasons I cannot fathom, he is among those in charge of using taxpayers’ money to breathe life back into that same economy. Such a blatant conflict of interest would only be acceptable in the wonderland that currently passes for our government.

That notwithstanding, we not only have the right to question the what and why of Kashkari’s actions, we have an obligation to do so. Our congressional representatives had that same right and obligation during the past eight years and their failure to do so, helped create the mess we are in.

It is time for Congress to say: Listen up, Mr. Kashkari. You don’t get to spend taxpayer money without immediate and transparent accountability.

Question 2: Who is Hank Paulson working for?

The American people were told that the purpose of giving the banks our money (the bailout) was to start the flow of credit again. We were assured by our congressional representatives that the second version of the bailout plan, which passed over much taxpayer opposition, would protect our interests.

Our main interest is of course is to get the economy moving so jobs will not be lost, homes will not be foreclosed, and car and other loans will once more be available. One would think that Treasury would therefore distribute the bailout funds with conditions attached that assured the funds would be used for the intended purpose. However, Hank Paulson, also a former Goldman Sachs man in yet another obvious conflict of interest position, refused to put conditions on the banks’ use of the bailout funds.

October 29’s International Herald Tribune reported

…with $250 billion in bailout funds committed to dozens of large and regional banks, it turns out that many of the recipients of this investment from taxpayers are not all that interested in making loans. And it appears that Paulson is not so bothered by their reluctance.

So what are the banks doing with our money? They are buying other banks. And not necessarily banks that are in trouble. The banks' interest is in maximizing their profit, the benefit of the public, even though it is our money they are using, is not a priority.

It is time for Congress to halt distribution of the bailout funds until there are guarantees that the banks will spend our money to benefit us first. If that also helps their bottom line all to the good, but public money puts public interests first.

We cannot afford to wait until Obama takes office in January to deal with this. It must be dealt with now, before anymore of our money is given to financial special interests for their benefit not ours. If Congress really cares about the interests of the people, now is the time to prove it.

And by the way, why isn't the media all over this?