We are American Liberal/progressive independents for 3 main reasons: 1) Party politics drives us crazy, 2) Thinking in terms of Republican and Democrat is possible only if one believes in a false duality, 3) The two major parties, in their own time, have lied the country into disastrous wars and helped rob the people blind, while steering the ship of state into one monstrous iceberg or the other.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
TARP banks' lending concerns panel
....or why we still don't trust the banks and other financial institutions.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Increases in rates and fees charged by U.S. banks that are receiving government bailout money is a concern to the bailout's watchdog panel, but no investigation is under way, a panel spokesman said on Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program was investigating lending by TARP beneficiaries. It singled out Bank of America (BAC.N) and Citigroup (C.N) . But Caleb Weaver, a senior adviser to the five-member panel, said it has no subpoena power and does not conduct formal investigations like those done by, for instance, the Treasury Department's special inspector general for the TARP, which is a separate entity. "It's an issue that the Congressional Oversight Panel is considering for a future report," said Weaver. The panel, chaired by Harvard Law SchoolprofessorElizabeth Warren, issues regular reports on bailout policy. It issued one last week suggesting that the true value of toxic assets weighing down the books of major financial institutions would decide whether the TARP succeeds. The $700 billion (471 billion pounds), taxpayer-financed TARP was meant to send more capital to lenders to spur lending and boost the economy. Since TARP started in October, banks helped by it have raised charges on a range of routine transactions, hiked rates on credit cards and continued making loans criticized as predatory by consumer advocates, the Journal said. (Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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Most of us came of age in the 60s; that most misunderstood, tumultuous time, the story of which, I imagine, will never be completely told. Why? Because it is more of a Peoples' History than the story of various governments, empires, wars, leaders and such. Historians spend much time on such things. The history of the people at any given time is seldom told by historians. Only the people can tell their story of a given time in history. We should all be about doing just that. If you were around back then, and half-way conscious (and I don't mean by that, what you might think I mean), you belong here. Send us you story, tell us about your life. What do you protest, do you have any answers to the problems we all face?
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We post comments in English and only by followers of this blog. While anyone is free to read any of the material here, comments from self-identified, moderate to left-of-center independents are welcome to post after joining up. Others may comment by email and will occasionally be posted as well.