{"id":14337,"date":"2020-04-17T11:29:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T18:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=14337"},"modified":"2020-04-17T11:29:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T18:29:07","slug":"the-public-deserves-to-know-lone-watchdog-demands-federal-reserve-release-names-of-corporations-receiving-taxpayer-bailouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2020\/04\/17\/the-public-deserves-to-know-lone-watchdog-demands-federal-reserve-release-names-of-corporations-receiving-taxpayer-bailouts\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW\u2019: LONE WATCHDOG DEMANDS FEDERAL RESERVE RELEASE NAMES OF CORPORATIONS RECEIVING TAXPAYER BAILOUTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 16, 2020 by Common Dreams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Fed will soon lend trillions to companies. But it has not committed to disclosing which private companies are getting taxpayer-backed support. That\u2019s wrong.\u201dbyJake Johnson, staff writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 26 Comments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell attend a meeting on October 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Olivier Douliery\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lone watchdog<\/a> on a congressional committee formed to oversee the Trump administration\u2019s handling of a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus bailout package demanded Wednesday that the Federal Reserve release to the public both the names of corporations receiving taxpayer bailout money and details on how the funds are being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe public deserves to know which companies are receiving taxpayer-backed lending through the Fed and on what terms, and to be able to monitor what those companies do after receiving taxpayer support,\u201d Bharat Ramamurti, thus far the only person who has been appointed<\/a> to the newly created Congressional Oversight Commission, wrote in a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission is supposed to have five members chosen by congressional leaders<\/a> of both parties, but the other slots have not yet been filled even as taxpayer money flies out the door<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a position where we can just trust corporations to do the right thing with this money.\u201d
\u2014Bharat Ramamurti, Congressional Oversight Commission<\/strong>Under the CARES Act\u2014a nearly 900-page stimulus package President Donald Trump signed into law last month\u2014the Fed was given sweeping control<\/a> over hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money, which the central bank can leverage into trillions<\/a> of dollars in funds to prop up large corporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramamurti, a former economic adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), expressed concern that the Fed has not committed to releasing key details about transactions involving such an enormous pot of taxpayer money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe public deserves a full documentation of how the Fed uses this money\u2014who gets or doesn\u2019t, and on what terms and conditions\u2014to assess whether the Fed is using public money wisely and in accordance with Congress\u2019 goals in the CARES Act,\u201d Ramamurti wrote in his letter, which can be read in full at the bottom of this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would undermine public confidence in the Fed for it to provide taxpayer-backed support to a company without the public ever finding out who that company is and what exactly the company received,\u201d Ramamurti added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramamurti\u2019s demands come as watchdog groups continue to raise alarm<\/a> about the lack of oversight measures in place to prevent Trump and members of his administration from using coronavirus stimulus money for political purposes or personal enrichment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Common Dreams<\/em> reported<\/a>, Trump last week abruptly fired an official who was appointed by a group of U.S. inspectors general to head the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), another oversight panel established by the CARES Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClearly he\u2019s planning to corrupt the $2 trillion in spending Congress just approved, whether it\u2019s by steering the money to political favorites, negotiating more favorable terms with certain parties or punishing his enemies with a failure to provide aid,\u201d Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate with Public Citizen, said of the president in a statement<\/a> last week. \u201cWho could have seen this coming? Literally everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics have also pointed to an \u201cextremely alarming<\/a>\u201d provision in the CARES Act that allows the Fed to avoid longstanding transparency requirements as it conducts meetings and makes decisions about corporate bailouts amid the ongoing pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview on MSNBC<\/em> Wednesday night, Ramamurti\u2014who was appointed to the Congressional Oversight Commission by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)\u2014warned that the CARES Act imposes \u201cmore onerous\u201d restrictions on small businesses seeking taxpayer bailout money than large corporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s particularly disturbing because we\u2019ve seen over the last eight or 10 years that corporate America tends to look out for shareholders and executives first,\u201d said Ramamurti. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an incredible amount of money go into stock buybacks and dividends, and at the same time we\u2019ve seen wages for workers basically stagnate. So I don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a position where we can just trust corporations to do the right thing with this money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Ramamurti\u2019s full letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Chairman Powell:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Federal Reserve has already announced plans for more than $2 trillion in emergency lending, with potentially trillions more to come. Yet it has not announced what information it will publicly release about individual transactions with private companies through taxpayer-backed lending facilities\u2014including whether it will even release the names of individual beneficiaries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write to respectfully request that the Federal Reserve publicly release detailed and timely information about each individual transaction. The public deserves to know which companies are receiving taxpayer-backed lending through the Fed and on what terms, and to be able to monitor what those companies do after receiving taxpayer support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you know, Section 4003 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (\u201cCARES Act\u201d) authorizes the Treasury Secretary to \u201cmake loans, loan guarantees, and other investments in support of eligible businesses, States, and municipalities that do not, in the aggregate, exceed $500,000,000,000.\u201d The Treasury can use as much as $500  billion \u201cto make loans and loan guarantees to, and other investments in programs or facilities established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of providing liquidity to the financial system that supports lending to eligible businesses, States, or municipalities.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $500 billion from the CARES Act supplements billions in taxpayer money that was already at the Treasury Department\u2019s disposal in the Exchange Stabilization Fund.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, the Treasury Department has used taxpayer money from the Exchange Stabilization Fund and from the CARES Act to support several Fed lending facilities for businesses. Specifically:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n