Video: Barofsky, "We're In A Far More Dangerous Place Than Before"

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Special Inspector General of TARP Neil Barofsky has been making some noise lately.  He appeared on the nationally-broadcast CBS Early Show this morning; he was before the House Oversight Committee last week blaming Geithner for the AIG bonus rip-off, and this afternoon the quarterly TARP progress report was released. 

A few weeks ago, he sat down with Lagan Sebert and Christine Spolar of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund.  You might remember their outstanding work from this video.  Barofsky is candid and revealing in this 5-minute clip.  One of his best interviews to date.

Text below is from Huff Po:

In a half-hour interview with the Investigative Fund, Barofsky lays out the breadth of his work and is blunt in his assessment about whether the financial system, now with fewer and bigger banks, is yet safe.

• "I think we may be in a far more dangerous place today than we were a year ago."

Neil Barofsky is the man who tracks the historic bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.  The 39-year-old special inspector general monitors a dozen separate bailout-related programs that now account for nearly $3 trillion in financial commitments. A former federal prosecutor, Barofsky has subpoena power and has launched about three dozen investigations since being named to the post in December 2008. In an audit released in July, Barofsky made clear that he was intent on demanding transparency from all quarters -- including the U.S. Treasury. His next audit is due in October. During an interview with the Huffington Post Investigative Fund, Barofsky made some striking observations.

1. He found hundreds of banks capable of tracking their use of the TARP money - despite claims by the U.S. Treasury that the task was impossible.
2. If the purpose of the TARP rescue was to increase lending, it has failed.
3. The U.S. financial system, now dependent on bigger and fewer banks, is shakier than ever.

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Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/neil-barofsky-tarp-inspec_n_300178.html

Comments

[DailyBail]

http://dailybail.com/home/more-from-sig-tarp-barofsky-bloomberg-interview-july-21-vide.html


http://dailybail.com/home/complete-congressional-testimony-from-sigtarp-neil-barofsky.html


http://dailybail.com/home/tarp-inspector-neil-barofsky-smells-bank-fraud.html

[DailyBail]

http://dailybail.com/home/barofsky-financial-bailout-tally-could-reach-237-trillion.html

http://dailybail.com/home/neil-barofsky-gentleman-inspector-general-sig-tarp-cnbc-vide.html

http://dailybail.com/home/gwb-did-something-right-meet-your-new-best-friend-neil-barof.html

[DailyBail]

http://dailybail.com/home/tarp-prosecutor-neil-barofsky-gets-his-day-in-the-sun-video.html

[como]

man, i am addicted to this site! i check every couple hours for updates. nice work covering the bailouts. this is great coverage. thanks for putting all of the necessary vids in one place. awesome commentary. this was another great post. and thanks for posting all the barofsky links in the comments section. i was looking for one of these the other day...

[James H]

como, as a fellow addict, I feel your pain.
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I'm reading William Cohan's "House of Cards" right now -- the only non-academic book besides Barry Ritholtz's "Bailout Nation" that I've read in a long time -- and from my perspective, it's fantastic. Lots -- I mean tons -- of juicy, verbatim, f-bomb laden quotes from names you would recognize. I'm loving it.

But I found it interesting that one Bear executive says: "I don't think it should have been saved. I don't buy the argument that the whole system would have unraveled and collapsed. I really don't. I think it's a terrible precedent....I think it would have been a much better wake-up call for everybody had things followed their course" (99).

On top of that, Jimmy Cayne and a few other members of Bear's BOD had contemplated using the "nuclear option" of threatening bankruptcy if the Fed didn't bail them out. It's interesting that (1) they were willing to think about doing it and (2) that they knew Geithner was a big enough tool he might go along with it. Instead, Dimon essentially played the same card and got the 30B Maiden Lane facility thrown in to sweeten the deal.

BTW, here's one of the properties in that 30B stew of toxic mortgages: http://uk.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USTRE59K01420091021&channelName=topNews#a=1

[James H]

Oh, and Geithner's view? Natch: "difficult policy judgments," "financial system," "systemic risks," "financial system" (he really enjoys saying that), "risk" and "authority" (authoritah?) (99-100). You've heard all before a million times. The man has no clue.

[DailyBail]

Bailout watchdog expects much to remain unrefunded
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091021/D9BFFSOG0.html

[DailyBail]

james...picked up 'house of cards' this morning for weekend reading...

como...thanks...join the conversation when you can...