The Hole in the TARP
No accountability
The GAO, the auditor for the US Congress, shows that the Treasury Department is not conducting mandated oversight of the recently bailed-out (rescued? nationalized? too big to fail?) banks and other financial institutions under the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP). This really shouldn't be a surprise, just as the US military is not auditable, and just as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae were not auditable. In the private sector in order to get funds you have to show were they are going (and of course make a profit). Not so in the government.
But of course the bigger question to ask is if the assets are failed, why aren't they allowed to fail ? Why should bad investment be recovered? It is this type of irrationality that Baudrillard says creates post-modern absurdity and an un-free people.
The GAO, the auditor for the US Congress, shows that the Treasury Department is not conducting mandated oversight of the recently bailed-out (rescued? nationalized? too big to fail?) banks and other financial institutions under the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP). This really shouldn't be a surprise, just as the US military is not auditable, and just as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae were not auditable. In the private sector in order to get funds you have to show were they are going (and of course make a profit). Not so in the government.
But of course the bigger question to ask is if the assets are failed, why aren't they allowed to fail ? Why should bad investment be recovered? It is this type of irrationality that Baudrillard says creates post-modern absurdity and an un-free people.
posted by Cameron Weber at 10:50 AM
