Ethics

Still no transparency on bank bailouts

By Ed Brayton

Bloomberg News has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over the Bush administration's refusal to reveal the nature of $2 trillion in loans made to businesses and the collateral used to secure those loans.

These loans are not part of the $700 billion TARP fund set up by Congress a few weeks ago. These are emergency loans made directly from the Federal Reserve, which has long been authorized by law. Bloomberg News notes that these emergency loans have skyrocketed in the last few months, but without the minimal oversight built into the TARP program:

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on December 15, 2008 (boomark / email).