AIG and Bernanke

Ben Bernanke was thick in the middle of the AIG bailouts with Henry Paulson, Tim Geithner and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs. Watch the five-minute clip of his explanation about the payoffs to Goldman Sachs and other banks above.

As the Senate moves toward the reconfirmation of Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, they should keep one eye on the proceedings in the House Oversight Committee's hearing on "AIG's Federal Financial Assistance".

Bernanke helped engineer the recapitalization of Goldman Sachs and numerous foreign banks. The auditor appointed by the Congress says that this will cost Americans at least $30 billion. That makes Bernanke a very expensive government official.

From the prepared testimony of Neil Barofsky:

From the SIGTARP'S Audit Findings:

Treasury's own TARP financial statement estimates that Treasury will not be made whole, but is rather projected to lose more than $30 billion on its AIG investments......Narrowly asserting that taxpayers will be "made whole" on Maiden Lane III -- just one part of the AIG counterparty transactions -- without mentioning the huge losses Treasury expects to suffer on other, inextricably linked parts of the very same transactions is simply unacceptable; the American people deserve better.

Yes, the American people deserve a fresh start. We need economic leaders not tied to Wall Street. We need leaders focused on Main Street. Please call your Senator and encourage them to vote NO on Ben Bernanke's reconfirmation.