Citizen Oversight Board for federal bailout of Wall Street

Add a Citizen Oversight Board to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), as a condition of the bailout of Wall Street firms.

            As citizens we are asked to allow a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street without any guarantee that it will work, nor any guarantee that out money will ever be recovered, and without any oversight! In the words of the original bill submitted by President Bush and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulsen:

%u201CDecisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.%u201D

            Lack of oversight and government accountability has been one of the factors in creating this mess. Let%u2019s remember that the government has already committed $85 billion to the bailout of AIG and the Big Three Automakers are looking for a $50 billion loan.  It has also been proposed that some of the very people who created this mess be hired to help manage the "troubled assets." This economic recovery program will be built on the backs of US citizens - on our retirement, on the quality of life for our children and grandchildren, even our ability to provide for our national security.

If US citizens, many of whom can barely make ends meet, are going to donate close to a trillion dollars to bailout financial institutions and industries, then citizens have a right and a duty to know exactly what the money is used for, who benefits from it, and how it will help to resolve the crisis.

            It is the responsibility of the Congress to represent the American people and to protect our interests. In that spirit, our representatives in Congress are being asked to not only allow, but to require citizen oversight in the process. A Citizen Oversight Board should be given full access to all expenditures, accounting, communications and decisions relative to the TARP, and any other bailout or recovery programs that use taxpayer money. In this democracy, it is the citizens%u2019 right and duty to be involved in this historic expenditure.     

            The funds used for the TARP will affect each of us in many ways. The increase in the federal deficit will affect the government%u2019s ability to solve pressing problems such as the energy crisis, healthcare and education. Needed repairs to our infrastructure will go undone. Federal aid to hurricane and tornado victims will be reduced. Federal aid to states will be reduced, meaning that local aid to cities and towns will be further reduced. More than likely local municipalities will be forced to either raise taxes or reduce services. At this perilous time in our nation%u2019s history, in which real wages are going down, unemployment is rising, numerous small businesses are facing bankruptcies and unprecedented numbers are facing foreclosures, all of the transactions involved in the bailout must be transparent, open to review and subject to accountability.

            The details of who sits on the oversight board and how they are chosen can be worked out by a bipartisan team of legislators. But it is essential that the citizens chosen to sit on this board must not be tied to Wall Street and must not be employed by the firms that are beneficiaries of this bailout. It is also essential that this board be created and staffed within the next 30 days.