Bailout Transparency Not Necessary? Barney “Rubble” Frank: “Trust Us”

Photo Courtesy of Online.CasinoCity.com

Taxpayers weren’t necessarily sold on the “emergency bailout”, but some may have rested a bit easier knowing that there would be transparency and oversight of the millions of dollars that are being thrown at the likes of Fannie and Freddie and AIG. This week, the Federal Reserve refused to indentify who received close to 2 trillion dollars in tax payer funded loans, let alone the questionable assets that the Fed is accepting as collateral! Enter Barney Frank, the pride of Massachusetts – the same Barney Frank who had his paws on Freddie and Fannie in the first case, assuring the public that all was well with the institutions – right before the big collapse. Barney, in a conversation with Timothy Geithner, a possible pick for Treasury Secretary and current executive officer of the Fed’s New York Branch, feels that the Feds failure to disclose is just fine and dandy.

“``I talk to Geithner and he was pretty sure that they're OK,'' said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. ``If the risk is that the Fed takes a little bit of a haircut, well that's regrettable.'' Such losses would be acceptable, he said if the program helps revive the economy.
`Unclog the Market'
Frank said the Fed shouldn't reveal the assets it holds or how it values them because of ``delicacy with respect to pricing.'' He said such disclosure would ``give people clues to what your pricing is and what they might be able to sell us and what your estimates are.'' He wouldn't say why he thought that information would be problematic. “

To recap, the Fed is not disclosing who is getting the 2 trillion dollars, nor the types of risks being assumed, and Frank is ok with this because Geithner is “pretty sure that they’re ok”, and would not say why disclosing this information would be problematic. Barney Frank’s advanced degree in Economics doesn’t appear to be serving the tax payers – perhaps because he doesn’t have one. Barney is also bringing the Massachusetts model of decriminalizing Marijuana to the national stage. Barney might not be the crackpot many in his district believe (granted he was re-elected handily due to weak opposition), but this move may answer the question: “What’s he smoking?”

House Republicans – True Grit - On the Bail Out and Drilling for Oil

There are a group of House Republicans who have, in recent months, created a bit of a “thorn” in Nancy Pelosi’s side. The first “revolt” came with the energy crisis; Nancy Pelosi decided that there would be no vote on offshore oil drilling, going to extraordinary lengths to stop the debate – the House Republicans, including John Culberson and John Boehner, stayed to debate, long after Pelosi shut off the lights, turned off the CSPAN cameras and shut down the Congress. They stayed, using every available devise to communicate with constituents, and debated and demanded a return as well as a resolution that would include offshore oil drilling. Their success has not been touted in the press, in fact, there is little mention lately of the fact that Nancy Pelosi lost and the energy bill that included offshore drilling was passed. If it had not been for this “revolt”, the bill would not have seen the light of day. The price of crude had dropped significantly as a result of the addition of off-shore drilling's inclusion in the plan.

They are at it again – this time they are not enamored of the $700 Billion Bail Out and have been virtually left out of negotiations and ignored by Pelosi – (She did not even read the suggestions they had made). That was until she realized she needed them on board - why? – no one party wants to be responsible for this fiasco – and considering the mess can be laid at the feet of the Democrats (see previous posts on financial crisis on this blog). It is also worth noting that although there were warnings about this same fine mess from certain members, specifically John McCain, his bills got nowhere - blocked by Democrats, and little was done to stop the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac crisis. The bill now has the support of Boehner, (as a result of McCain’s trip back to Washington and his ability to bring all parties together – also going unnoticed) however, it does not necessarily have the support of the rank and file Boehner, to his credit, noted that he had told his party members to vote their conscious. Video’s taken yesterday by John Culberson (R-TX); clearly show that there are great misgivings about this bailout – as there should be. Culberson with John Carter outline the Republican House recommendations in the videos below.

To date, this group of rebellious men (quite American in concept), have got their point across, it is hopeful that they will succeed in having some impact on this bill that is being shoved down the throats of the public. It would not be for a lack of trying – they deserve credit for taking their jobs seriously – working for the American people.