Pulling The TARP Over Our Eyes Again

Oh here's a shocker. Give banks taxpayer money with no oversight to lend to consumers, and then discover several months later they spent it on themselves instead.

Many of the banks that got federal aid to support increased lending have instead used some of the money to make investments, repay debts or buy other banks, according to a new report from the special inspector general overseeing the government's financial rescue program.

The report, which will be published Monday, surveyed 360 banks that got money through the end of January and found that 110 had invested at least some of it, that 52 had repaid debts and that 15 had used funds to buy other banks.

Roughly 80 percent of respondents, or 300 banks, also said at least some of the money had supported new lending.

The report by special inspector general Neil Barofsky calls on the Treasury Department to require regular, more detailed information from banks about their use of federal aid provided under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury has refused to collect such information.

Doing so is "essential to meet Treasury's stated goal of bringing transparency to the TARP program and informing the American people and their representatives in Congress about what is being done with their money," the report said.

In a written response, the Treasury again rejected that call. Officials have taken the view that the exact use of the federal aid cannot be tracked because money given to a bank is like water poured into an ocean.

"Although it might be tempting to do so, it is not possible to say that investment of TARP dollars resulted in particular loans, investments or other activities by the recipient," Herbert M. Allison Jr., the assistant Treasury secretary who administers the rescue program, wrote in a letter to Barofsky.

Let me stop that particular locomotive and back it on up there for ya. The Treasury Department, the guys charged with keeping track of the nation's money, say it's too hard for the people whose job it is is to keep track of other people's money to actually keep track of other people's money.

Jesus wept. (The Flying Spaghetti Monster threw a Noodly fit, too.) Why does Timmy have a job again? Honestly? We're giving banks trillions and we're not tracking it "exactly" because...why? The taxpayer money we're giving away is what, just too much money to f'ckin track? Is this not a massive, massive problem?

The report provides the most comprehensive look to date at how banks have used the money, based on voluntary responses to a March survey. Banks were asked to describe how they used the money, but they were not asked to break down the amounts.

One response, which the report described as typical, said the money had been used "to make loans to credit worthy customers, and to facilitate resolution of problem assets on our books."

Banks won't give exact numbers on what they used the billions for. This is a bank doing this.

TARP is the best government program ever.