TARP: They got the Gold Mine, you got the shaft. -OR- Where’s MY f*ckin’ Bailout?

Surely this doesn’t surprise anyone.

The expressed sentiment of many American citizens.

There were voices decrying bailing out WALL STREET STOCK BROKERAGE HOUSES, BIG INSURANCE, BIG BUSINESS, “TOO BIG TO FAIL” BANKS, to the disadvantage of the American people.

From one perspective, TARP was a “good deal” because most of the money loaned has been repaid on time.

However, from another perspective (or two), the people (who make the economy run) were NOT “bailed out” and continue to suffer. That is, the objective (economic recovery) did not occur – at least to the extent it was hoped would occur. And their input into the economy continues to be abysmal, which in turn means that our national economy at large remains significantly unrecovered.

There are some who argue that the “bailout money” should have gone directly into the hands & pockets of American citizens & consumers because their spending would have stimulated the economy.

However, as it has been, the “bailout money” has gone to WALL STREET STOCK BROKERAGE HOUSES, BIG INSURANCE, BIG BUSINESS, “TOO BIG TO FAIL” BANKS, and the results have been – to put it politely – less then stellar.

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Behind the scenes of the bank bailouts

Tess Vigeland: It’s been almost four years since Lehman Brothers went under and the world’s financial system started to spin out of control. The fall of 2008 was all about Henry Paulson‘s bazooka, the Troubled Asset Relief Program — TARP — a $700 billion bailout for the banks. The bailout legislation created a special inspector general at the Treasury Department to oversee where all that money was going.

Neil Barofsky performed the job until he resigned early in 2011. Now he’s out with a tell-all book of his experiences in Washington, including the time he was pretty sure Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was about to haul off and punch him. It’s called

Inspector General uncovers Fraud, Waste & Abuse in Treasury Department

Now that the Wall Street fox is watching the financial hen house, is it any wonder?

Cases like these continue to demonstrate the NEED for fiscal 1.) Transparency; 2.) Accountability, and 3.) Ongoing publicly available agency reports.

It’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse – pure & simple.

And, it’s time to prosecute.

Not because of what it was used for – they could’ve bought jelly doughnuts – but for whose trust was betrayed, and who was abused.

The people.

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Treasury staffer solicited prostitutes: report

1:47pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Treasury Department employee used government resources to solicit prostitutes and another employee accepted gifts from a bank he supervised in violation of conflict of interest rules, reports from Treasury’s internal watchdog said.

A Treasury staffer with the now defunct Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) used his government email to arrange sexual encounters with women advertised on Craigslist, viewed websites offering erotic services and met with prostitutes on three separate occasions, a report by Treasury’s inspector general said.

The OTS has since merged with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OTS official, who

LTG Patrick O’Reilly, U.S. Army Missile Defense Agency’s Demon Director

To say this man has anger management problems would be an understated mischaracterization.

REPORT COVER – Inspector General United States Department of Defense Report of Investigation Lieutenant General Patrick J. O’Reilly US Army Director, Missile Defense Agency

Based upon the testimony given in the report, I’d say he’s very likely suffering from personality disorder, with a definite narcissistic element, and possibly borderline psychotic.

While the MDA’s headquarters remain at Fort Belvoir, VA, nearly 5,000 people work for the agency in offices on the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, AL. The majority of the agency’s programs are now managed primarily in the Von Braun Complex of offices. Over 2,200 MDA positions relocated to Huntsville after the 2005 Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) commission decision.

LTG O’Reilly is often in Huntsville and has an office in the new Von Braun III wing.

Last October during a ribbon cutting ceremony in Huntsville, LTG O’Reilly said, “The largest concentration of missile defense engineers anywhere in the world is in this building,” which he said made it the “hub of missile defense for our nation.”

The 15th Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference will be held at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, 13 to 16 August 2012.

Read LTG O’Reilly’s official biography here.

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Exclusive: Missile Defense Agency chief harassed and bullied staff, investigation found

Posted By Josh Rogin, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 – 12:38 PM

Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, the head of the Missile Defense Agency, mismanaged his office, harassed and bullied his senior staff, and overall failed in his leadership of the Pentagon’s largest program, according to a previously undisclosed internal report obtained exclusively by The Cable.

O’Reilly “engaged in a leadership style that was inconsistent with standards expected of senior army leaders,” in violation of Army regulations on ethics and leadership, according to a May investigation and report by the Defense Department‘s Inspector General‘s office that was never released to the public. The IG’s office is recommending that Pentagon leadership take “corrective action,” against O’Reilly.

The report found that O’Reilly regularly yelled and screamed at subordinates, often in public, demeaned and belittled employees, and behaved in such a way as to result in the departure of at least six senior staffers from MDA during his tenure.

“We determined that LTG O’Reilly’s behavior and leadership were

Federal Inspector General Investigation proves Ron Paul’s claims “Bizarre”

{Updated annotation 05 April 2012: There is a cost to the “bizarre” accusations made by Rep. Dr. Ron Paul, MD (R-TX) during that Congressional hearing. As a direct result of his accusations, a 16-month long Inspector General investigation was conducted, which undoubtedly cost “we the people,” aka taxpayers, several millions of dollars.}

It’s one thing to say “the moon is made of green cheese.”

It’s an entirely different matter to say it and truly believe it.

In this case, Rep. Dr. Ron Paul, MD (R-TX), believes it.

God help him.

God help us all when kooks like him get elected to any public office.

I rather think this solitary example is proof positive that Rep. Dr. Ron Paul is unfit for office.

Following are various news items referencing the recently released findings.

Along with the news items about the findings is a link to Rep. Dr. Ron Paul’s, MD (R-TX) column hosted on the LewRockwell.com website. Lew Rockwell is another prime example of a kook, who, like Rep. Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) subscribes to the theories of the “Austrian School of Economics” which – though it’s Mises Institute is headquartered in Auburn, Alabama – has no ties with the city or university located in that town.

{Note to the reader: Throughout this entry, there are numerous links to references and resources about the highlighted items. None of the links are advertising, and most all links refer to entries on Wikipedia, while some refer to original or referenced resources.}

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Excerpted from Marketplace, Morning Report, Wednesday, 04 April 2012 – “Fed money played no role in Watergate.“

Marketplace’s David Gura is here live from Washington to tell us about something a little juicier. Morning David.

David Gura: Morning Jeremy.

Hobson: So this item, I gather, comes from the Fed’s inspector general?

Gura: That’s right; so we’re learnign about the Fed’s history. First, we learned that the Federal Reserve was not involved in the Watergate burglary back in 1972; the cash used in the scandal did not come through the Federal Reserve. And second, there is no evidence the Fed helped Saddam Hussein, helped Iraq, get billions of dollars to buy weapons in the 80s.

Hobson: OK, all good to know — but why was the inspector general looking into this?

Gura: So, back in February of 2010, Ben Bernanke was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee. And Republican Congressman Ron Paul — one of the Fed’s biggest critics — made these two claims, about the Fed and Watergate, and about the Fed supposedly loaning money to Saddam Hussein.

And this is was Ben Bernanke’s reply, at the hearing back then: