Questions - as in, what are the banks actually doing with the $700bn handout? They won't say.
[A]n Associated Press investigation that found none of the banks was willing to disclose what they were doing with hundreds of billions of dollars distributed through direct injections of federal money.The Republicans - wisely for them, bad for us - have jumped on the accountability bandwagon. People feel as though the first $700bn got stolen. They need to be assured that this second massive package, the "stimulus" plan, isn't just as much of a free handout. Between the questionable proposal to give $19 per person per paycheck, totaling nearly $140bn, as a way to pump prime the economy (and give workers some financial support), and the latest decision to give nearly 40% of the stimulus away in non-stimulus tax cuts that may do little to help the economy recover, the Obama administration is handing the Republicans a perfect opportunity to accuse Democrats of being reckless big-spenders who can't be trusted at the public trough.
"For Treasury to advance funds to these institutions without requiring more transparency further erodes the very confidence Treasury seeks to restore," it said.
Appearing Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Warren said that Treasury "didn't put any tracking mechanisms on it."
"They didn't tell the banks what they had to do in order to get the money. It might be used for lending, it might be used to buy other banks ... Or it might just be stuffed in vaults and left there," she said.
