U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind.-VT). Image via Wikipedia
From: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Submitted by crew on 6 March 2009 - 10:28am.
CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Federal Reserve Board seeking records that identify the recipients of the over $2 trillion in financial assistance the Board has paid out in the last two years. The FOIA and other documents can be found here.
CREW made this request in the wake of the Board's refusal to provide Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with this information and his introduction of legislation today, S. 513, that would require the Board to disclose the financial institutions receiving taxpayer-backed loans and other financial assistance from the Board. Senator Sanders also posted video of his attempt to obtain the information from Fed Chair Benjamin Bernanke, to no avail. Bernanke just said NO.
As CREW explained in its request, the documents it seeks are essential to understanding and assessing the government's response to the devastating economic financial crisis our nation faces. CREW's Chief Counsel, Anne Weismann, put it like this:
Telling Americans that they are not entitled to know which banks are receiving 2.2 trillion dollars of taxpayer money is unacceptable under any terms. This administration has promised transparency and we expect it to deliver.
Anne is right. It's just unacceptable.
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