Only One Bank?
Only One Bank?
Doesn’t it seem wrong to you that banks don’t have to track exactly how they used bailout money? The government has handed millions of dollars out to banks around the country with no strings attached. They didn’t say, “Here’s some money to get you back on track, but how you spend it needs to be itemized and recorded.”
No, instead the government passed out this money like candy. There weren’t any rules about how the banks should use the money. And, the banks don’t have to report how they used the money. Doesn’t that seem a little sketchy to you?
The U.S. Treasury has undergone a lot of scrutiny for not making bailout banks account for the money they received. On the flip side, it does learn from its mistakes. 200 or more banks were not required to keep a log of how they used their money. Only 1 was.
Citigroup was given about $20 billion in bailout money. It promised that it would use “its reasonable best efforts to track the money and will send the government quarterly reports.” But, has the U.S. Treasury really learned from its mistake?
Seven other banks were given money the same day Citigroup was. However, these banks were not required to keep a log or track how they spend the bailout money. Why Citigroup? Why is Citigroup the ONLY bank being required to track how its spends government money?
The U.S. Treasury says that it doesn’t want to “impose a burden on institutions it deems healthy.” Surely Citigroup isn’t the only unhealthy bank in the nation. Why are ‘healthy’ institutions getting government money anyways? Why is the U.S. Treasury handing out our taxpayer money and not requesting these banks to track how they spend it?
Neel Kashkari, a Treasury official, gave this shocking defense…”It’s not going to be perfect. And as you know, you put $1 into an institution, it’s impossible to follow where that $1 goes.”
Shocking and ridiculous. What will it take to get government officials to be honest and responsible when it comes to spending our money?
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