Hi there,

Immigration raids are spreading across the country. The agencies meant to protect public health are being dismantled from within. Public broadcasting is being defunded... Today, Democracy Now!'s independent reporting is more important than ever. Because we never accept corporate or government funding, we rely on viewers, listeners and readers like you to sustain our work. Can you start a monthly donation? Monthly donors represent more than 20 percent of our annual revenue. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Watchdog: Financial Bailouts Could Cost Taxpayers up to $24 Trillion

HeadlineJul 21, 2009

The watchdog overseeing the federal government financial bailout says the government’s maximum exposure to banks and other financial institutions could total nearly $24 trillion, or about $80,000 for every American. But Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said the government would only be on the hook for that much money in a doomsday scenario. Barofsky said, “We’re not suggesting that we’re looking at a potential loss to the government of $23 trillion. Our goal is to bring transparency, to put things in context.” In a report issued Monday, Barofsky also criticized the lack of transparency in the Obama administration’s management of the giant financial services bailout program. Barofsky said the Treasury Department has declined to require bailout recipients to explain what they are doing with their government funds.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top