SECRECY AT THE FED: Bernanke wants to keep AIG bailout debates hidden from public view
New opinion piece from the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal. For background, see the following story:
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Reprinted with permission.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is justly famous for his loose-money policies. But when it comes to preventing disclosure to taxpayers, Mr. Bernanke continues to tighten. In central bank speak, you could say that Mr. Bernanke's operation is not "accommodative" when responding to Freedom of Information Act requests.
This week we received a letter from the Fed regarding documents we requested in February. Specifically, we asked the central bank to release a 2008 staff memo entitled, "Issues Related to Possible IPC Lending to American International Group." Soon after the memo was drafted, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York began lending money to AIG. This might suggest that the Fed staff favored this federal intervention.
But in a CNBC interview last winter, Senator Jim Bunning said that Mr. Bernanke's staff did not think AIG was too big to fail after all. "His staff didn't agree with him," said the Kentucky Republican. "I'm talking about an email that he sent his staff after his staff recommended that the Federal Reserve not touch AIG."
Members of Congress have been able to see this memo, though not to take a copy with them. We think taxpayers should be able to see the staff memo, as well as Mr. Bernanke's response, since the taxpayer exposure at AIG eventually reached $182 billion and the decision may hold lessons for the future. But our request has been "denied in full," according to the Fed, because the documents contain "pre-deliberative intra-agency analyses and recommendations."
This is exactly the type of information that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission should be studying and making available to the public. We urge the commission to shine a light on this central episode in the history of the financial panic, allowing taxpayers to learn the truth.
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Sep 14, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Reader Comments (25)
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/09/14/341491/irish-government-debt-needs-you/
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/09/allegation-americans-flooded-out.html
The banks, which include Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JP Morgan, currently provide roughly $1.5 billion in credit lines to publicly-held payday loan companies and between $2.5 to $3 billion to the larger payday loan industry, says the report, which was issued jointly by community group network National People's Action and non-partisan watchdog Public Accountability Initiative.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/14/payday-lenders-banks_n_716246.html
http://247wallst.com/2010/09/14/consumer-reports-continues-to-savage-iphone-4/
The bankers said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should move beyond the "conservatorship" that started two years ago and be placed "receivership."
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?source=patrick.net&id=11587256#abc_tw_islam_100912_wc.jpg
No more government intervention in housing would be a gift to future homeowners.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Daily-Reckoning/2010/0912/Want-to-solve-the-housing-slump-Let-it-be?source=patrick.net#mainColumn
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/Lehman-bankruptcy-lawyers-2-billion/19632602/?icid=sphere_copyright
You don't think Obama smoking and then passing Obamacare is not about the economy, deficits and corruption???
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Umm...yes...did you somehow become special overnight...
There will be no place for dissent…was I just squashed like cockroach? I do feel demoralized. Most of it will be done by Americans to Americans…YUP…Hmmmm, I think they will have a job for you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDOFUMuQCp4
Our freedoms are at stake but you seem to think limiting them is the right thing to do. I don’t get it. What is the harm in free thought and free expression?
Where's the oil? On the Gulf floor, scientists say more found on the bottom, a lot more.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100913/ap_on_sc/us_sci_gulf_oil_spill_sea_floor;_ylt=AuqrQ0vNVNjJyRp_uM2EJDms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlcXY4dWdmBHBvcwMxMTUEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9zY2llbmNlBHNsawN3aGVyZXN0aGVvaWw-?om_rid=NQ-S6t&om_mid=_BMj2aGB8UsTIeC
Should be on the MSM tonight if they arnt sencored.
Question Asked of Mike Castle...
DB...Listen to them CHEER when the BIRTH CERTIFICATE question is asked...ARE THEY BORED BY IT?
Then watch as the ENTIRE crowd stands up and says the Pledge of Allegiance of the U.S....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V1nmn2zRMc
Sorry TD, I might not get the chance to respond to your comment...
WhAt, do you know who I am......Was, Thought, could of been, Opps, for got, the oil spill is a Hot Poato and the MSM has been instrucked to leave it alone.
Nothing said tonight and the AP broak it yesterday. I gota get my Ducks, Monkeys, Sheep, Ozarks Craw-Dad's" in line here. I'll work it fer ya "Z".
Much "Tar Oil" found on the sea bead with warm bodys of sea life under the oil.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=202929
58%...and growing!!!
Revealed: Obama hired media expert to monitor 'negative' coverage of BP oil spill
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1311643/Revealed-Obama-hired-media-expert-monitor-negative-coverage-BP-oil-spill.html
The U.S. government paid an expert $18,000 to assess whether news stories about the Gulf oil spill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, it was revealed today.
TexDar, DB and even the rest...THIS STORY MAKES ME SICK AND I LOOK AT IT AS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF NEWS OUT TODAY!
Hmmmmm!
French Senate Votes 246-1 to Ban Muslim Burqas
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/what-frances-burka-ban-actually-means/19633485
Men who are found to force women to fully veil their faces could be fined $39,000, and could receive up to a year in prison if the female in question is a minor.
Of course it is Gobie, everyone knows it must be the fishermen's fault, that is why they want the fishermen to sign those waivers about the sea food being their responsibility since BP and the Goobermint have stated the Gulf is clean.
In case you are confused, that statement is so they can track it as a negative. All administrations hire firms to track public response on hotbed issues, where have you been all these years.
I really hate no bid contracts, but in the last 9 years it seems America has grown very fond of them.
But Taitz noted in an e-mail. "Why am I getting this invitation from Harry Reid? Is it a mistake or Harry Reid is trying to push eligibility to the forefront and get rid of Obama in order to save his own skin."
BORN IN THE USA?
'Birther in chief' invited to dinner by Harry Reid
'I have no fear of anything. I'll ask him about eligibility on camera'
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=203485