congressional follies redux 3/24/09

Here's a quick post on a lighter note. Today Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernard Bernanke testify before congress today. They will ask for increased regulatory oversight and power over financial institutions that are in dire straits. The press (AKA the media) report that the congressmen/women plan to "grill" Mssr. Geithner and Bernanke about the government's handling of the AIG Bonus payments. Yes, folks, you got that right. Our beloved legislators that amended the stimulus/bailout bill to allow the bonus payments in the first place will "grill" these men about how these payments were handled!! Sounds to me like Congress wants to pass the buck on their own legislation to the executive branch. The notion of Congress protecting the taxpayers from the executive branch is similar to using wild weasels to guard a chicken coop from a fox. DC is a town where blame is ladled out like gravy over a thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter while responsibility and accountability for acts committed or omitted is avoided at any cost. No wonder we are in an extreme recession. Will senator Michael Dodd (dem. Connecticut) have to sit between the congresspeople and 2 of Obama's biggest dogs of financial regulation?