WASHINGTON ? It's something any bank would demand to know before handing out a loan: Where's the money going?
But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it.
There has been no accounting of how banks spend that money. Lawmakers summoned bank executives to Capitol Hill last month and implored them to lend the money ? not to hoard it or spend it on corporate bonuses, junkets or to buy other banks. But there is no process in place to make sure that's happening and there are no consequences for banks who don't comply.
Pressured by the Bush administration to approve the money quickly, Congress attached nearly no strings on the $700 billion bailout in October. And the Treasury Department, which doles out the money, never asked banks how it would be spent
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This is absolutely infuriating! Bitch as much as you want about the Bush Administration and the Treasury Department but how could Congress hand over so much money without ensuring it be tracked properly? Who the hell are these incompetent morons that they sign a blank check and throw it out the window? I'd like to believe we've elected a bunch of idiots to represent the people but I fear it is something even more sinister than that. The fleecing of the American people is being done in plain view and there's no one to stop it. Will there be anything left for BO and his cronies to stuff in their pockets? Maybe that's why they want to get in office early and hit the skids running.