Obama wants tighter controls on federal bailout

"President-elect Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration in an interview broadcast Sunday for the lack of oversight in implementing the $700 billion federal bailout plan."

That's right. Taking Obama's criticism into account, the U.S. government has since given the Bush Bailout plan a name that more appropriately reflects its primary goal - 'No Millionaire Left Behind.' :-)

A survey carried out by the Associated Press in December 2008 asked 100 banks and financial institutions that had received money under the 'No Millionaire Left Behind' Bush Bailout plan what they had done with the money.

NOT ONE SINGLE institution provided a clear answer.

A number of institutions replied with PR blurbs saying they had used the money to 'strengthen their bottom line, financial status,' etc. Some banks said they would sit on it (ie: not use it to free up loan-making.)

This really is unbelievable - the Bush Administration has given away $350 BILLION with no strings, no oversight, and requiring zero accountability.

And to date - let's face it - the economic situation in America has gotten worse. We are now looking at 2-3 million jobs lost and house foreclosures hitting record highs with lots and lots of help for rich bankers and Wall St financiers, and zero help for struggling homeowners.

It's the absolute height of incompetence....unreal.

On Japan Today recently, there have been some Republican posters who since 2000 have been either giving actual or implicit support for 8 long years of the Bush Administration green-lighting and rubber-stamping every spending bill that came their way.

These same Republican supporters - who it needs to be noted again - have supported 8 years of out-of-control spending - are now calling on Obama to exercise financial restraint while they watch the Bush Adminstration in its dying days just give away $350 BILLION of borrowed money that will only add to America's already massive debt mountain.

I would suggest to the above-mentioned Republicans that if they want to call for financial restraint now, they need to explain to all of us why they never did during the last 8 years, and let it be known that partly due to their lack of action over those last 8 years, we now have a huge U.S. debt mountain that is causing said Republicans to now call for financial restraint.

They have no one but themselves to blame.

Sushi: "These same Republican supporters - who it needs to be noted again - have supported 8 years of out-of-control spending - are now calling on Obama to exercise financial restraint while they watch the Bush Adminstration in its dying days just give away $350 BILLION of borrowed money that will only add to America's already massive debt mountain."

Good post, and I agree with you 100%, but you know full well that said posters will simply 'have no knowledge' of having supported such things under bush, and in fact will blame the ENTIRE mountain of debt on Obama.

limiting executive pay at institutions that receive the money and forcing those institutions to get rid of any private aircraft they may own or lease.

I never understood that this wasn't put in to begin with. I don't know whether the money was released too soon and these guidelines weren't put on or Paulson wanted to reward his cronies in AIG, Citigroup and the bunch. < :-)

Paulson is ex-Golden Sacks leader, and despite their top leaders foregoing their bonuses in a big display of PR, the rest of the company shared out an amount averaging US$275,000 each.

To paraphrase the Jack Benteen in Extreme Prejudice, "Only thing worse than a banker or a politician is a child molester..."

Obama, who has been receiving daily national security briefings since his election in November, also acknowledged that his campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay will be more of a challenge than he anticipated. Many of those held at the military site are suspected terrorists or potential witnesses in cases against them.

Don't try to tell any of the folks on this site President Elect Obama that.

They get real mad if you try to point that out to them.

This will all get very interesting when Obama and the Democrats can't blame Bush anymore....that should be at most 1 year.

Oh no Ninefingers, I heard the republicans still blaming Bill Clinton boldly for transgressions they felt he should be blamed for and I'm not even talking about Monica. Every time george bush screwed up something else or pulled an new blunder, it was Bill Clinton's fault to begin with and george bush was trying to fix it.

Iraq was Bill Clinton's fault.

So if you think I'm giving george bush a free pass in 6 months, forget it. The blunders that george bush did and attempted to do will last several lifetimes.

This bailout is a blunder from the beginning. Yeah, Bill Clinton started it with the easing of some market restrictions and continued by the bush administration. The markets were allowed to go belly up with the help of Sen. Phil Gramm and the deregulations that he pushed through.

Now we're buying the markets and the banks out of bankruptsy because they were allowed to do what they wanted and nobody said squat. The same with this money that george bush pushed for and Paulson is giving out with no accountability and no mandate to make loans or to stop giving bonuses without restraint.

One year, my ass. Past my grandchildren's lifetime, I'll blame him. < :-)