Federal Bailout under a Blanet of Secrecy

Without knowing the value and the kind of assets the Fed received from troubled banks, taxpayers can’t determine the effectiveness of the bailout or whether the money is being used properly.

clipped from www.chron.com Pull away blanket of secrecy on federal bailout The Troubled Asset Relief Program, as the $700 billion bailout program approved by Congress is known, was supposed to be conducted with transparency and oversight. The TARP and other provisions of the federal bailout, however, remain shrouded in uncertainty. TARP, though, is only one piece of the overall bailout. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury have been shoveling huge piles of money into the markets during the past two months through channels that don’t require congressional approval, yet taxpayers have little idea where the money is going or what the government is getting in return. The Fed, for example, refuses to say who received some $2 trillion in emergency loans that have showed up on its balance sheet.