Posted on 08/14/2010 5:56:05 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
ALEXANDRIA, La. -- "I don't make jokes," said Will Rogers, "I just watch the government and report the facts." If he were still alive, the famous humorist would have a field day with the current crop of Washington politicos.
For instance, consider the following projects funded by "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009".
At least some of the money doled out in the stimulus package might as well have been flushed down the toilet. It was intended to create jobs and promote investment and consumer spending in the short term.
How does $199,862 to help indigenous Siberian communities lobby Russian policymakers positively impact the U.S. economy in the short term?
Additionally, how does spending $529,648 to study the effects of local populations on the environment in the Himalayas help America's economic situation? The answer to all of the above is, "They don't." In fact, they will likely never positively impact the U.S. economy.
If the fact that billions of taxpayer dollars seem to have been wasted in the stimulus bill is not disturbing enough, consider that some politician, some committee, deemed all of the projects as worthy to receive significant funds. The very thought boggles my mind.
"In politics," Napoleon Bonaparte said, "absurdity is not a handicap." At least some of the spending in the stimulus bill proves the French emperor knew what he was talking about.
(Excerpt) Read more at sbcbaptistpress.org ...
Was the dough doled out to American curiosity seekers nosing into affairs abroad, or to foreign beneficiaries? If the latter, then the stimulus failed even its goal of doing something domestically.
Everything the government does is waste—at best.
...Just how big is the stimulus package? Well for one, it has doubled the size of the House of Representatives, according to recovery.gov, which says that funds were distributed to 440 congressional districts that do not exist.
According to data retrieved from recovery.gov, nearly $6.4 billion was used to “create or save” just under 30,000 jobs in these phantom congressional districts–almost $225,000 per job. The web site operates on an $84 million budget and is tasked with monitoring the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress–which, for the record, counts 435 members–in early 2009...
SOURCE http://watchdog.org/1530/6-4-billion-stimulus-goes-to-phantom-districts/
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CNBC's outspoken Rick Santelli: Obama's so-called stimulus spending went to govt payrolls---and not infrastructure improvement---as it was sold to taxpayers.
The $786B TARP Bailout is now being called, "A MASTERFUL DECEIT." Paulson, et al, may not have pulled a fast one when he testified in favor of the TARP before Congress----but Congress' phony outrage is a puzzlement. If HR 1424 was a 'MASTERFUL DECEIT' then CONGRESS didn't do its job.
TITLE I—TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF PROGRAM (required 'Congressional Oversight' sections listed)
Sec. 101. Purchases of troubled assets.
Sec. 102. Insurance of troubled assets.
Sec. 103. Considerations.
Sec. 104. Financial Stability Oversight Board.
Sec. 105. Reports.
Sec. 107. Contracting procedures.
Sec. 108. Conflicts of interest.
Sec. 111. Executive compensation and corporate governance.
Sec. 116. Oversight and audits.
Sec. 118. Funding.
Sec. 119. Judicial review and related matters.
Sec. 121. Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Sec. 125. Congressional Oversight Panel.
Sec. 127. Cooperation with the FBI.
Sec. 129. Disclosures on exercise of loan authority.
ANALYSIS In HR 1424, there are enough rules, regs and CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REQUIRED that not one Thin Dime should have been 'misspent.' So if anything crooked did go on Congress should look in a mirror. They dropped the ball -- again. And the same Gangster Government will run our healthcare.
The US Treasury entry must be seen in this context. COS Rahm Emanuel took control of the US Treasury when he crept into our WH.
Behind The Real Size of the Wall Street Bailout (more like $14 trillion)
Mother Jones | Dec. 21, 2009 / FR Posted January 04, 2010 by E. Pluribus Unum
A guide to the abbreviations, acronyms, and obscure programs that make up the $14 trillion federal bailout of Wall Street.
The price tag for the Wall Street bailout is often put at $700 billion—the size of the Troubled Assets Relief Program. But TARP is just the best known program in an array of more than 30 overseen by Treasury Department and Federal Reserve that have paid out or put aside money to bail out financial firms and inject money into the markets. To get a sense of the size of the real $14 trillion bailout, see our chart here. Below, a guide to the pieces of the puzzle:
Treasury Department bailout programs (controlled by Rahm Emanuel)
Money Market Mutual Fund: In September 2008, the Treasury announced that it would insure the holdings of publicly offered money market mutual funds. According to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), these guarantees could have potentially cost the federal government more than $3 trillion [PDF].
Public-Private Investment Fund: This joint Treasury-Federal Reserve program bought toxic assets from banks and brokerages—as much as $5 billion of assets per firm. According to SIGTARP, the government's potential exposure from the PPIF is between $500 million and $1 trillion [PDF].
TARP: As part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury has made loans to or investments more than 750 banks and financial institutions. $650 billion has been paid out (not including HAMP; see below). As of December 21, 2009, $117.5 billion of that has been repaid. Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) stock purchase: The Treasury has bought $200 million in preferred stock from Fannie Mae and another $200 million from Freddie Mac [PDF] to show that they "will remain viable entities critical to the functioning of the housing and mortgage markets." GSE mortgage-backed securities purchase: Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the Treasury may buy mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to SIGTARP, these purchases could cost as much as $314 billion [PDF].
--SNIP--- long read
Federal Reserve bailout programs
Commercial Paper Funding Facility: With the support from the Treasury, the Fed established the CPFF in October 2008 to increase the availability of short-term debt (commercial paper) funding. Up to $1.8 trillion [PDF] was earmarked for the program.
Mortgage-backed securities purchase: In 2009, the Fed earmarked up to $1.25 trillion to buy investments based on home loans.
Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility: TALF provides financing to investors who are buying asset-backed securities. In February 2009, the Fed and Treasury announced an expansion of the program to generate up to $1 trillion in new lending.
Foreign Central Bank Currency Liquidity Swaps: The Fed has provided $755 billion [PDF] for currency liquidity swaps with foreign central banks.
--SNIP--- long read
Expenditures within the bill such as “$199,862 to help indigenous Siberian communities lobby Russian policymakers” do not magically appear. Somebody put it in there, & for a reason other than stimulus.
I want to know who did it & why. I think many others also want to know this. An investigation should be made. Follow the money.
I suspect most of the stimulus money went to friends, relatives, cronies, & political supporters of the Rats. It wasn’t a stimulus, it was a payoff. What irks me the most is that everybody knows it, but nobody will do anything about it.
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