Oversight Board Raises Questions About Treasury Financial Bailout

[kpete]

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Updated Dec. 10, 2008 – 3:23 p.m.
Oversight Board Raises Questions About Treasury Financial Bailout
By Phil Mattingly, CQ Staff

Lawmakers blasted the Treasury Department’s handling of the financial industry bailout as they grilled a top department official for hours Wednesday and received another oversight report that raised pointed questions about the program’s direction, including Treasury’s failure to closely monitor the use of funds.

As the number of lawmakers criticizing Treasury’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) continues to grow, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank , D-Mass., warned that significant deliberations would need to occur should Treasury decide to tap the second $350 billion installment of funding.

Appearing before the committee, Neel Kashkari, the assistant Treasury secretary responsible for the TARP program, attributed some of the concerns raised by lawmakers and the oversight report to the speed with which the department has had to act to stem a financial disaster. The law establishing the Treasury bailout program (PL 110-343) was approved a little more than two months ago.

A 38-page document released by the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel questioned the intentions of Treasury in several areas, including steps it is taking to help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure and how it is protecting taxpayers as it goes about spending federal money to prop up the financial industry, both issues that have drawn criticism from lawmakers.

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http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002995572