U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for as much as $23.7 trillion to bolster the economy and bail out financial companies, said Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Barofsky offered criticism ..saying the department has “repeatedly failed to adopt recommendations” needed to provide transparency and fulfill the administration’s goal to implement TARP “with the highest degree of accountability.”……….. taxpayers don’t know how TARP recipients are using the money or the value of the investments, he said in the report.

Is this the change you wanted?

How will this money be paid back? where will it come from?
Is anyone paying attention???

So figure up how much of that money that you’ll be responsible for paying back and just write a check. This is insanity.

any and all politicians who voted for TARP should be voted out and feel luck they are not tarred and feathered.

William K. Black is a former senior regulator that cracked down on the perpetrators of the 1980′s S&L scandal that involved among others, Senator John McCain.  The majority of the guilty parties in that scandal walked away with a slap on the wrist.  It looks like the guilty parties responsible for our current economic mess may not even get that.

In a video interview in April of ’09 with Bill Moyer, Black ,as a former regulator, gives a great analysis and brings together a well thought out argument on the current economic crisis in America.  Even though it’s 25 minutes long, it’s a great interview from a democrat, who supported Obama, speaking out on the rampant fraud in our federal government.  William K. Black knows what he’s talking about in this interview.

An interesting exchange from the transcripts of the interview:

WILLIAM K. BLACK: …The Bush administration and now the Obama administration kept secret from us what was being done with AIG. AIG was being used secretly to bail out banks like UBS and like Goldman Sachs. Secretary Paulson’s firm, that he had come from being CEO. It got the largest amount of money. $12.9 billion. And they didn’t want us to know that. And it was only Congressional pressure, and not Congressional pressure, by the way, on Geithner, but Congressional pressure on AIG.

Where Congress said, “We will not give you a single penny more unless we know who received the money.” And, you know, when he was Treasury Secretary, Paulson created a recommendation group to tell Treasury what they ought to do with AIG. And he put Goldman Sachs on it.

BILL MOYERS: Even though Goldman Sachs had a big vested stake.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Massive stake. And even though he had just been CEO of Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury Secretary. Now, in most stages in American history, that would be a scandal of such proportions that he wouldn’t be allowed in civilized society.

Most of the information in the interview I was aware of, but Black brings all of the pieces together to show the fraud and scandal in this entire concocted economic crisis.  You may find this on at midnight on PBS, if that, but you will never see this on MSM.  More exposure of this theft to the masses could jolt them from their slumber.  Well, maybe.

I love this man, I don’t know anything about him but i do love him for standing up to the face of power and holding his own.

Look at the expression on Boxer’s face that a Black man would be in disagreement with the NAACP. Priceless.

VOTE The BUMS OUT.

Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009

Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 – Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.

Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system. It is registered -You are fingerprinted -You supply a current Driver’s License -You supply your Social Security # -You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing -Each update change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25 – Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail. -There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18. -They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.

Since being sworn in, President Obama has appointed as many as 34 czars to oversee and implement a wide array of his agenda ranging from the automobile industry to global warming to the Great Lakes.  With a salary of up to $172,000 in addition to staff, office and travel budgets, Congressman Jack Kingston (R/GA-1) sees the appointments as a growing problem costing taxpayers millions.

To make matters worse, Kingston says, only a very few of these czars have been confirmed by the United States Senate despite the Constitution’s requirements for Senate confirmation.  To address the matter, the Congressman has introduced legislation which would withhold funding from any czar not confirmed by the Senate.

“While the Constitution may be inconvenient to the Administration, Article II, Section 2 clearly requires the ‘advice and consent of the Senate,’” Congressman Kingston said.  “Why won’t the President use transparency and have these people come before the Senate and undergo the constitutionally-mandated process?  In 300 years, czarist Russia had just 18 czars.  It’s taken just seven months for President Obama to nearly double that number.”

While previous administrations had czars – Ronald Reagan had 1, George Bush had 1, Bill Clinton had 3 and George W. Bush had 4 – Congressman Kingston’s concern takes root in the number and speed with which they are being appointed as well as the vast policy areas they govern.

“At this rate, we’ll have 272 czars by 2012,” said Congressman Kingston.  “It seems President Obama is in the midst of forming a parallel government to push his policies.  Not only do they duplicate existing Senate-confirmed positions, they are completely unaccountable.  I serve on the Appropriations Committee which is responsible for overseeing every dollar spent by our government but I’ve yet to see a single one of Obama’s czars.”

That lack of accountability, Congressman Kingston contends, is what leads to waste.  Just last week, President Obama’s Stimulus Accountability Czar announced that the stimulus accountability website was getting an $18 million makeover.

“Eighteen million dollars to design a webpage?  Talk about stimulating the economy,” said Kingston.

For more information on Jack’s efforts on czars, please visit http://kingston.house.gov/czar

Bill HR3226 Text on Thomas (LOC)

It’s about time a representative steps up to the plate and challenges what many believe to be a violation of the constitution, at least in spirit.

We need to convince all of our representatives to support this bill with letters, emails and phone calls. We, as constituents, should note all of our representatives who end up opposing this legislation and hold them accountable for doing so. The more quickly we sweep out of office those who would seek to circumvent the constitution, the better chance we have of returning our government to the people.

Of course, I would prefer to see legislation barring czars altogether but this is a good first step toward that goal.