July 20, 2009
Government intervention could reach $23.7 TRILLION

Posted at 3:02 pm, in: Bailout
Tags: Michelle Malkin, Neil Barofsky

Government bailouts could cost $23.7 trillion:

Government support aimed at cushioning the effects of the financial crisis in the U.S. could reach $23.7 trillion, a special inspector general overseeing U.S. bailout efforts said in a report to Congress.

In prepared testimony for Tuesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky writes the figure includes spending and commitments for several agencies that have implemented programs aimed at supporting the economy and the U.S. financial system.

“TARP does not function in a vacuum,” he wrote, referring to the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program — its most visible effort to counter the financial meltdown.

But wait, it gets worse, much worse:

Mr. Barofsky in his testimony wrote that Treasury has often rejected his office’s recommendations regarding ways to operate programs in a more transparent manner.

“TARP has become a program in which taxpayers (i) are not being told what most of the TARP recipients are doing with their money, (ii) have still not been told how much their substantial investments are worth, and (iii) will not be told the full details of how their money is being invested,” his testimony reads.

As Michelle Malkin has been saying, “Obama lied, transparency died.”