Bailout Salaries And Administration Costs To Reach $6.5 Million Through January

WASHINGTON — The government estimated Tuesday that it will spend $6.5 million by the end of January in salaries and other administrative costs for the $700 billion financial rescue program.

The Treasury Department estimate was part of the latest update it's required to provide Congress on the operation of the largest government bailout effort in history.

Treasury projected that it would spend nearly $1.2 million on salaries through the end of January and more than $5.3 million on other expenses. The biggest expense category was for "other services," which amounted to nearly $5 million.

The report said Treasury expected to have made obligations totaling nearly $26.6 million by the end of January with the biggest part of that being more than $24.4 million for "other services," which covers the contracts the department has awarded to accounting and law firms to help administer the program.

The new report, which updates the activities in the rescue program since the first accounting was provided to Congress on Dec. 5, provided details on the emergency loans that the Bush administration decided to provide to the auto industry from the bailout program after Congress was unable to pass legislation to help the automakers.

The Bush administration announced that it would lend $17.4 billion to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC in an effort to buy them time to reorganize and avoid having to file for bankruptcy.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said that with the auto loans, the administration has obligated the first half of the $700 billion rescue program and he has called on Congress to authorize use of the second $350 billion.

However, the administration said Monday that it has not yet submitted to Congress a report required by law that would spell out how the second $350 billion would be used.

Comments

[nirek]

MORE RIP OFF'S

[GrainOSand]

They Stealing

They stealing, the people we trust.
They backroom dealing, in fits of greed and power lust.
Oh -- I know -- they tell us trust them for they will do no harm.
They woo us, and you hear infant-like coos from us, as they pacify, distract and distort, extract wealth and export treasure with snake like charm.
Yet one is hard-pressed to ignore the sounding of the alarm of economic crisis.
The masters of the universe have been stealing.
The superheroes of solvency -- Batman, Superman, Submariner, Wonder Woman and Old Mighty Isis -- they have engaged in theft in broad daylight.
They have shown a propensity for ethical weakness rather than a penchant for moral might.
Plunder and global blunders caused by greed, the issue is always framed in terms of self-serving need.
You want a fix for what has already been stolen?
You will have to pay large sums of cash and to the new masters of the universe you are then left beholding.
But they just offer more of the same.
They represent repackaged machinations of the corruption and deception game.
Looting funds in a single keystroke, sopping up the national gravy of hope, with the biscuit of deceit -- just like a hungry hound looking for a monetary treat.
I deserve a bonus yet the onus is on others.
This is the script of a drip not one who governs.
It"s ok, this time they will get it right.
Thanks for the fairytale.
Goodnight!

[GrainOSand]

In case you need a translation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04lewiseinhorn.html?pagewanted=4&_r=2

[not going2take it]

Anyone else hear that funny sound, we have all heard it before,
its a sucking sound, that sounds like trillions of dollars and countless
national resources that were just sucked down the drains, the
political/administrative/financial v o r t e x . . .
lets make this sound stop.

Asking for - accepting any forms of payment
- appear to support their likely guilt.

This IS just pathetic........these pirates know of, no bounds,
I bet everyone (of them) is going to get a cut of this.

Isn't this just somebody's job to handle this, just to do it right.
We yet have to pay another wave money to handle their
thievery stealing our nation away, one lie at a time.

[mtdon]

the $500 tax cut for the tax year 2009 doesn't get to us until we pay our taxes in april of 2010. What good is 500 going to do? Maybe I can pay my electric bill!

I have yet to hear obama mention his plan to bring back manufacturing jobs. Until we get decent paying manufacturing jobs - jobs where we actually create something of value instead of just shuffling papers around - this country will not be able to dig ourselves out of the ditch we find ourselves in

it's not rocket science - it only needs to be rocket science if you're trying to prove a service based industry can build real wealth

[Lala2]

Ahh...the gift that keeps on taking...
Too bad the bailout money wasn't simply distributed to every citizen. Now that would really have stimulated the economy.
I still have yet to see how any of the Feds moves have done anything positive for the average citizen.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

It could be useful to view two things as entirely separate:

1) Should the actions and transactions of the bailout be transparent, at least to experts?
2) What is the adequate compensation for those who work in this particular situation for the Fed or the treasury, under part-time contracts or as external accountants, advisors or whatever?

the answer to 1) is in my opinion a resounding: Yes absolutely and there is no way at all around it, everything else is dangerous. But it may still be restricted because full disclosure to markets may indeed destabilize.

the answer to 2) is in my opinion: there is no precedent, and it makes no sense to pay significantly less for this than otherwise in the finance industry. Generally, the problem with excessive salaries is that it may distort incentives towards the short-term or towards bad risk-taking. But this is not the problem here.

Furthermore, the extreme public scrutiny (even if full consequences of results are revealed only within years) of these actions clearly has strong effects on the reputation of the individuals involved.

It seems pointless to suggest that those involved in the practical work of the bailout are having a free ride. I may be wrong, but it seems extremely implausible to me.

[tbirdalum]

Notice to Congress: Do not under any circumstances let go of the second 350 billion for these crooks to pi*s away. Save the money and let Obama disperse it to the people who can better use it and account for it as well. We'll be more than happy to tell you where it will go.

[RRonin]

I am available to dole out sacks full of hundred dollar bills with no questions asked for half that amount!

[mtdon]

I bet if we looked into it these amounts they do not include the commissions that the financial institutions are receiving to transfer the funds. Can some one tell me why we have to pay a private bank to act as the middle man for these treasury and fed reserve funds to be paid to other financial institutions?. Also those amounts are only for the 750 billion treasury funds. What about the 7 trillion the fed Reserve has shoveled out the door in our name? There's probably a fat 5% commission fee on those transactions somewhere.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Itemize those "other services" criminal or your sentence is doubled.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Itemize those "other expenses" criminal or your sentence is doubled.

[irisda]

ha! always first to get themselves paid. Ask them to actually do their jobs, and nobody's showing up.
This is terribly disrespectful to the taxpayers.

[hopefull2008]

As admin costs go ... this sounds like an incredibly small amount. Check your favorite charity and see what theirs is. No story here.

[Mnemanth]

Is anyone surprised? What are these "people" getting paid for, when there appear to be no results? Oh, wait, sounds like the CEOs who mismanaged the funds in the first place.
The robbery continues...

[IncludeMeOut]

We should make the CEO's pay for this mess

[2008CaliforniaFan]

Your own Bank puts all kind of 'charges' on your account. Charge the Banks for having to do their paperwork. Sounds like a Plan.

Of course...That would be SOOOOO simple and make sense. This is Washington after all.