Tuesday
Jul212009
Taxpayers Want Transparency With TARP, Says Treasury Official
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 3:48PM
Annie Berman - Talk Radio News Service
Taxpayers are not being told what is happening with the money they have involuntarily invested in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Treasury Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky testified to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the most important recommendation that he could give to the committee would be a push for more transparency.
Tuesday’s hearing was a part of a series of hearings in which the TARP program is assessed and new developments of the program are reported to the committee.
Barofsky made sure that he was able to answer all questions honestly and thoroughly, as he recognized the concern that the committee has over transparency.
“The full transparency that we [the committee] asked for, which this President and this administration has promised is being blocked by the bureaucracy that often seems to say ‘just trust us and we will deliver,’” said Ranking Member Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).
Issa also brought up the staggering $23.7 trillion figure that has everyone on the Hill buzzing, and possibly a little scared. Issa asked Barofsky if he ever said in his reports that the U.S. would lose such an enormous amount of money in assurances and insurances.
“Of course not, and we explicitly point out in the report the existence of collateral…If every program is maximized to the greatest extent possible, that’s what that number is.”
In the last 3 months of the TARP, there have been an expansion of programs including expansion of the mortgage modification program to which approximately $18 billion has been allocated. There have also been more than $70 billion in TARP paybacks, and the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) was launched with an allocation of approximately $30 billion in taxpayer money.
“Unfortunately, in rejecting SIGTARP’s basic transparency recommendations, TARP has become a program in which taxpayers are not being told what most of the TARP recipients are doing with their money, have still not been told how much their substantial investments are worth, and will not be told the full details of how their money is being invested,” said Barofsky in his opening statements.
Barofsky’s position was created to specifically oversee what happens to TARP funds. He and his office carry out audits on institutions that have received TARP funds, and carry out investigations of issues concerning securities fraud, suspected accounting fraud, insider trading, mortgage service misconduct, mortgage fraud, public corruption, false statements and tax investigations. These investigations were developed through tips or leads provided anonymously to the SIGTARP Hotline (877-SIG-2009) and online at www.SIGTARP.gov.
Taxpayers are not being told what is happening with the money they have involuntarily invested in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Treasury Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky testified to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the most important recommendation that he could give to the committee would be a push for more transparency.
Tuesday’s hearing was a part of a series of hearings in which the TARP program is assessed and new developments of the program are reported to the committee.
Barofsky made sure that he was able to answer all questions honestly and thoroughly, as he recognized the concern that the committee has over transparency.
“The full transparency that we [the committee] asked for, which this President and this administration has promised is being blocked by the bureaucracy that often seems to say ‘just trust us and we will deliver,’” said Ranking Member Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).
Issa also brought up the staggering $23.7 trillion figure that has everyone on the Hill buzzing, and possibly a little scared. Issa asked Barofsky if he ever said in his reports that the U.S. would lose such an enormous amount of money in assurances and insurances.
“Of course not, and we explicitly point out in the report the existence of collateral…If every program is maximized to the greatest extent possible, that’s what that number is.”
In the last 3 months of the TARP, there have been an expansion of programs including expansion of the mortgage modification program to which approximately $18 billion has been allocated. There have also been more than $70 billion in TARP paybacks, and the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) was launched with an allocation of approximately $30 billion in taxpayer money.
“Unfortunately, in rejecting SIGTARP’s basic transparency recommendations, TARP has become a program in which taxpayers are not being told what most of the TARP recipients are doing with their money, have still not been told how much their substantial investments are worth, and will not be told the full details of how their money is being invested,” said Barofsky in his opening statements.
Barofsky’s position was created to specifically oversee what happens to TARP funds. He and his office carry out audits on institutions that have received TARP funds, and carry out investigations of issues concerning securities fraud, suspected accounting fraud, insider trading, mortgage service misconduct, mortgage fraud, public corruption, false statements and tax investigations. These investigations were developed through tips or leads provided anonymously to the SIGTARP Hotline (877-SIG-2009) and online at www.SIGTARP.gov.
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