Senator Sanders has summarized a new GAO audit report on the financial crisis. All in all, it seems to confirm "we wuz had".
From a press release sent out by Senator Sanders:
As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."
Among the investigation's key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. "No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president," Sanders said.
The investigation also revealed that the Fed outsourced most of its emergency lending programs to private contractors, many of which also were recipients of extremely low-interest and then-secret loans.
Linkl to press release: http://sanders.senate.gov/...
Link to GAO report (PDF):
http://sanders.senate.gov/...
No open thread I could see -- so posting this so others can see it -- despite no analysis by me (not an economist and probably wouldn't understand the details).