April, 01 2010, 02:40pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Conor Kenny 202-277-6427 or ckenny@conorkenny.net
Mary Bottari at 608-345-6806
CMD Releases New Wall Street Bailout Total, $4.6 Trillion in Federal Funds Disbursed
New Tally Focuses on Expansive Role of Federal Reserve
WASHINGTON
Today, the Real Economy Project of the Center for Media and Democracy
(CMD) released an assessment of the total cost to taxpayers of the Wall
Street bailout. CMD concludes that multiple federal agencies have
disbursed $4.6 trillion dollars in supporting the financial sector since
the meltdown in 2007-2008. Of that, $2 trillion is still outstanding.
CMD's assessment demonstrates that the Federal Reserve has provided
by far the bulk of the funding for the bailout in the form of loans
amounting to $3.8 trillion. Little information has been disclosed about
what collateral taxpayers have received in return for these loans. CMD
also concludes that the bailout is far from over as the government has
active programs authorized to cost up to $2.9 trillion and still has $2
trillion in outstanding investments and loans.
Learn more about the 35 programs included in our tally by visiting
our Total Wall
Street Bailout Cost Table, which contains links to pages on each
bailout program with details including the current balance sheet for
each program.
"While the Treasury Department is patting itself on the back for
recouping Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds and allegedly
making money off of its aid to Citigroup, our accounting shows that
these programs were a relatively small portion of the federal funds that
have gone out the door in support of the financial sector. Far more has
been done to aid Wall Street through the back door of the Federal
Reserve than through the front door of Congressional appropriations,"
said Mary Bottari, Director of CMD's Real Economy Project.
"The tally shows that more scrutiny needs to be given by policymakers
and the media to the role of the Federal Reserve especially as the Fed
has accounted for the vast majority of the bailout funds, yet provides
far less disclosure and is far less directly accountable than the
Treasury," said Conor Kenny, the researcher who collected the data on
the bailout.
CMD has presented its work in a table that shows: funds disbursed,
maximum funds that were at-risk at the height of the bailout, and actual
funds still outstanding for each program. CMD is also making available
a Financial Crisis
Tracker, a widget for the table that can be downloaded to websites
to get up-to-date numbers on the financial crisis and the bailout. The
Wall Street Bailout table will be updated monthly and will be a
tremendous resource for reporters and the public alike.
WALL STREET
BAILOUT COST TABLE can be accessed here.
KEY FINDINGS can be
accessed here.
FINANCIAL CRISIS
TRACKER can be accessed here.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-profit investigative reporting group. Our reporting and analysis focus on exposing corporate spin and government propaganda. We publish PRWatch, SourceWatch, and BanksterUSA. Our newest major investigation is available at ALECexposed.org. We accept no funding from for-profit corporations or the government. If you would like to make a financial contribution to support our work, please click here.
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