There's an old saying that farmers have about putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse. Americans tend to feel the same way about the oversight of their government. It's bad policy to compromise the checks on the federal government that are possible only through independent oversight, which is why Congress created the Office of Inspectors General (OIG) in 1978. There are now 69 different IGs overseeing everything from the Department of Agriculture to national intelligence and the Library of Congress.
As the federal government has grown in size, so has the number of Inspectors General necessary to keep an eye on the allocation of taxpayer dollars. Yet the more money that Washington spends, the greater risk there is of waste, fraud and abuse. In the midst of an unprecedented spending spree, the federal government has purchased a taxpayer interest in large financial firms, auto manufacturers and multi-national insurance corporations, all of which was made possible by a $700 billion bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
To help oversee this massive new spending to aid failing corporations, Congress created the office of Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). A former Assistant U.S. Attorney from New York, Neil Barofsky, was appointed to fill the post and the Senate quickly confirmed him. SIGTARP's mission is to "advance economic stability by promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of TARP management, through transparency, through coordinated oversight, and through robust enforcement against those, whether inside or outside of government, who waste, steal or abuse TARP funds."
Since his confirmation, SIGTARP Barofsky has closely monitored taxpayer investments, including executive compensation compliance and governance structures in financial institutions receiving TARP funds. Mr. Barofsky has produced timely, thorough and accurate reports to Congress about the ongoing efforts to stabilize the nation's financial markets.
SIGTARP Barofsky has highlighted numerous failures of the Treasury Department to provide transparency and prevent the kind of fraud that undermines the American people's faith in their government. In April, however, Treasury requested a formal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice on whether or not SIGTARP is independent of the supervision of the Treasury Secretary and the degree to which Treasury is legally bound to comply with SIGTARP document requests. Barofsky forcefully objected to this attempt to reign in the independence of his oversight efforts. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle backed him against an attempted power-grab by the administration.
For now, it appears that Treasury has withdrawn from efforts to control SIGTARP, though history informs us that attempts to expand the reach of executive power never fully subside. With one-party rule in Washington, and without the independence of SIGTARP, the taxpaying public would hear only "trust us" from the people in Washington spending their money. Americans have no patience for wasteful government, and they are acutely aware that fewer watchful eyes result in problems that fester and grow.
No matter where Americans fall along the ideological spectrum, everyone has a reason to be concerned when federal officials who wield extraordinary power over the U.S. economy attempt to limit oversight of their own conduct. As government continues to expand at a rapid pace, Congress and the American people will need to remain vigilant and protect the independence of government watchdogs. We must also insist that our government delivers real transparency and shows measurable progress towards fulfilling the promises made by our leaders.
Sen. Byron Dorgan: Four Ways We Need Obama's Help
Legislation to overhaul America's financial system will be coming up in Congress this fall, and we can't let this moment pass without making some lasting changes.
San Diego politics at every level is an unholy mixture of incompetence and corruption.
To think that the Dukester was the only Rep from SD on the take is laughable. At least Duke was still human enough to feel shame. These other guys, not so much.
Issa is a hard core Conservative as reflected in his voting record. 'Don't be fooled by his centrist mumbo jumbo. He tried that last night too. He personally financed the Gray Davis Recall which wound up giving us the Governator after Issa tearfully pulled out of the Governor race. Closet skeleton Mr. Issa? The fact that, after 9 years, I'm suddenly seeing his face and name everywhere says there's something up his shifty sleeve. Stay tuned and watch your back.
He makes a viable case for expanding the insurance that now covers 8 million federal employees as an option for the health care debate. (I dont agree but at least he has an option other than "no").
This article seemed to be more of the level-headed loyal opposition, which seems to be both desperately needed and in short supply. Untill I find out otherwise, Im going to believe that he actually does want the best for our country & not just his party.
Let the links begin!!!
Thx in advance!
Hey Issa, stop USING the crazies and lead them to a better day. Kennedy? It is to laugh.
Not likely, huh?
A republican asserting that government oversight is an important function?
There must be an ulterior motive at work here. What's the catch Issa?
Ironically : it is the Haves that are taking from the Have Littles - causing them to have less.
While the Have Littles are afraid they will have less if they give to the Have Nothings,
The Haves keep taking more of what they have.
Pretty soon the Have Littles will have nothing, the Have Nothings will still have Nothing,
and the Haves will have it all.
Well, the bubble is really burst now - and the irony is that the Haves have destroyed their own consumer base. The only realistic future is that America will sink gradually to the level of Mexico, while Mexico and other impoverished countries (especially India and China) will grow exponentially. The Haves are going to have to invest in some high-grade fences and security systems.
It is time that we stopped the lies and open the books of the Fed and the Too Big to Fail banks. Let's recognize that we have serious, serious losses in the assets and develop a plan to write them off over a fairly short period of time. It will be painful but it is the prudent way to start working out of this mess.
While we are at it, let's recognize the horrific consumer debt we have an start education people about financial basics like debt to income, leveraging, loan to value on real estate, etc.
If the consumer, corporate, and governmental debt mess is not solved (defaulted or written off), we will not have a meaningful recovery. Worse than that, if we continue to let the Fed monetize debt, we may be watching the decline of this great country.