Bank Bailouts

Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show she did a piece on the Bailouts. To view this go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#28358312
It is well worth the time to view this segment. She entitled it Bailout Rage and by the time I saw the entire segment I totally agreed with her.

Did you know that the application for the TARP funds is just 2 pages long and asks for very basic information. It can be found online by googling TARP application. Ordinary people would never get a loan or mortgage giving only basic information. We have to bare our financial souls. Also whereas the auto companies have to abide by very strict conditions, the banks do not. The auto companies had to sell their corporate jets while a company like AIG that has received $150 billion in funds still has four corporate jets and other top banks have anywhere from four to nine jets.

The banks are refusing to say how the funds they have received are being spent and the Bush Administration and Congress are not requiring it. I would say that the taxpayer's interests are not being protected. In fact the Treasury has purchased preferred stock instead of common stock. Therefore the government on our behalf has no voting rights. If they had purchased common stock they would have had voting rights and some say in how the companies are run.

While the auto bailout may be questionable there are many jobs at stake but at least there is some acountabilility whereas with the banks, there is none. I think we need to ask some serious questions of our representatives in the Congress.