The UAW is somehow to blame for this. I'm sure of it.

"We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to."
They're declining. The simple truth is that they took the money, rewarded themselves handsomely for taking it and stashed the rest in the hopes of picking up the rest of America for ten cents on the dollar. None of this will help the economy but the financial community has become convinced that the nation is responsible for its economic health rather than the opposite. Jesse James at least had the decency to hold a gun on people when he took their money.

Remember the whole idea behind the massive bailout was that the entire economy was going to be destroyed if the Adminstration didn't announce something within days of the Lehmann bankruptcy.

We might have had a revolution or something.

Yes, I am serious.

I believe one of the quotes was "We might not have an ECONOMY on Monday."

With all the bad publicity which followed the financial sector bailout in October - with parties and bonuses - I bet that if the same bailout was given today, the financials would be put under some fairly strict provisions on the use of bailout money.

At least I hope so.

And, as far as I am concerned, there should be NO executive bonuses in any of the troubled industries.

"But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it."

Banks that don't keep track of money? Banker, please.

I'd be seriously looking at unleashing RICO on their well heeled and stuffed asses if this keeps up. An organization that took Fed Money that was used under false pretenses sounds like a racket to me.

"No one could have predicted..."

ummm, can we see a little OUTRAGE please? wtf???

"We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to."

Well, it was only $25 billion. Who are we to demand answers?

To be fair, it was a poorly worded question. I doubt these institutions created separate accounts for "taxpayer money". The more appropriate question is "What are you doing differently to make sure you don't merely perpetuate the problem?"

When you look at where the U.S. Treasury was 8 years ago and where it is now and how much money has flowed without scrutiny into corporate coffers and the dark, secure vaults of financial institutions that "decline to disclose", it is clear that we have been robbed.

A solid and intelligent Democratic administration will come into office and it is very conveniently hobbled by the lack of funds and the yawning chasm dug by RepubCo. In the meantime, billions/trillions have accrued to those companies which instigated the disaster and it's disappearing from sight while the CEO perps continue to collect their payments for their part in helping to strip the treasury of every penny they can withdraw by whatever means.

The Yakuza and the Mafia should be taking notes because this is how it's really done. Making gov't so small and weak that it can be drowned in a bathtub is easier when it's been stolen blind in order to speed up the process.

We gave a shitload of money to the Bush Administration with practically no conditions attatched, so of course it was squandered and used to benefit the priviliged and the wealthy. No one seems to give a fuck because that's been happening for eight years.

But watch happens when Obama starts distributing money under his stimulus program. Believe me, if someone pays too much for a schoolyard swing or some money is used to fund something a little dubious like a zoo exhibit, the press will go apeshit. They'll demand "answers" about why this money is being wasted.

Even though the whole point of stimulus spending is to spend it, the press will still be outraged. Obama is in for a very short honeymoon.

Ah, TARP -- rebuilding the American economy the same way we rebuilt Iraq's...

Seriously, why expect anything different? Hasn't it always been Bush policy to give money hand over fist to the rich while denying all accountability?

I do like the idea of invoking RICO, though. Let's perp-walk all these SOBs.

Please write your US senators and also Nancy Pelosi and say you don't want one more DIME going to the Paulsen bailout. Not one more dime until there is a new administration (if then).

I do not want my tax money going to multimillionaires, billionaires, hedgefunds, Goldman Sachs which has gone offshore and will pay l% in taxes, and people responsible for creating this mess.

I want to see some folks going to JAIL.

I want to see a revolt where people will NOT pay taxes knowing their money is going to the above. A mass movement.

I just sent her an email; I hope others will join in. this makes me sick. We are a total banana republic.

I'm wondering, can't Congress just refuse to release the second half of the money, then re-assign it to the stimulus package next year?

This is beyond outrageous, and if the banks can't even explain what they're doing with the money, then they shouldn't get any more. At least we can save $350 billion for elswhere.

What's more astounding is that this still doesn't motivate American citizens to take to the streets in protest. Any other country in the world would be seeing hundreds of thousands of irate citizens out protesting and demanding that all that is currently lacking be rectified, yet most Americans can muster no more than passive grousing.
I still don't know why there hasn't been a 'loan it or lose it' requirement to the money that went to the banks. Loan it out now or lose it by a specified date.

Oh, DanP, you're such a cockeyed optimist. But that surely could have been a fifth question.

I would expect, though, that they wouldn't answer that, either, because they wouldn't want to reveal their operating secrets to their competitors, or something like that.

Has lending increased by $25 billion? Then they're not using the money as they should. Period.

Wouldn't be so sanguine that a "Democratic administration" will be hugely better in this respect.
One of the major players in the near-trillion-dollar giveaway (cause you know "$700B" won't end up being the final total) was our very own Barney Frank, who's usually a reliable liberal vote -- not so much when it comes to the financial world. (I'm sure this has nothing to do with his chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee, nor with his reliable flow of donations from that industry.)

Tell the IRS to go Fuck Themselves when it comes time to pay your taxes. File your 1040 with no numbers and tell them: "We have not disclosed that to the [Government]. We're declining to."
See how that works for you. Change your withholding to 10+ and keep your money for yourself. Is it illegal? Not if "The Government" does it, and I am the Government.

No Justice, No Peace!

Bet you didnt know that the unions also managed the investment banks and paid lobbyists to deregulate and chop mortgages into pieces, rate them and resell them and cause high fuel prices which led to closing of plants.

/snarkety snark

The need for a car bailout was in no small measure created by the refusal of banks to lend the $350,000,000,000 they have already received. The credit market is still very tight. Until credit is easier to obtain the car makers are going be doing little more than treading water.

We have spent $350 billion and we have nothing to show for it. Maybe should we call the SOT "Heck of a Job" Hank Paulson?

Who could have foreseen that government bailout loans needed to have accountability associated with them?

The AP noted that none of the institutions "provided even the most basic accounting for the federal money." In some cases, they couldn't -- the banks didn't know exactly where the taxpayer money had gone.

What was anybody expecting? They didn't know where they lost the money in the first place.

This isn't going to be cleared up until the financial institutions are forced to sell their toxic assets in the market at market clearing rates -- or else successfully transfer them to federal ownership so that the federal government can sell them at market clearing rates (as in the S&L crisis in the 80s.)

Enron's accounting tricks are not working any better now than when Enron was using them. What's different this time is who is getting fleeced.

Bah, USD 1.6 billion for 600 execs is only USD 2.6 milion apiece. Just because their companies received a bailout you want them to stop paying salaries and have them work for free?

Here we go again with irresponsible reporting by the AP.

The banks know where the money went.
Notice when you guy to the bank - if you get a cashier's check for a large amount, it has 2 signatures from the bank?

Notice when you withdraw a large cash amount - before a teller can go into the vault, she has to wait for someone else to come with her, and both of them count it out to you - that means key controls.

The bank doesn't trust just one person to enter the vault, it has to be two people.

The bank has so many controls that if the bank is operating legally, it would be hard for money to disappear or not be accounted for.