What's New
Accountability and transparency breed better government and boost taxpayer confidence. One of the murkiest areas for taxpayers is the bailout of the financial sector. According to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), when all financial rescue programs are combined, including the Federal Reserve and TARP efforts, U.S. taxpayers could be on the hook for up to $23.7 trillion.
The Campaign to Shed Light on the Fed
In
testimony before the Joint Economic Committee last March, U.S. PIRG implored Congress to not only increase transparency within the TARP programs, but also to extend U.S. PIRG’s proposed reporting requirements to the Fed. The American taxpayers have every right to know which banks received the trillions of dollars in aid.
To that end, U.S. PIRG, in conjunction with a diverse
coalition of taxpayer, citizen and government watchdog groups, will continue to push for legislation to increase transparency within the Fed. To date, over 300 members of the House of Representatives support H.R.
1207 which calls for an audit of the trillions of taxpayer-backed dollars invested in big banks. In addition, research shows that 75%
of Americans support auditing the Fed.
According to House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, as Congress considers reforms to the financial system and regulatory bodies as the year comes to a close, it will take on the issue of auditing the Federal Reserve. We need to fight for the strongest language possible, and against any weak substitutes.
