Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Official warns Congress not to force lending

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Offici...-14605251.html

Dennis Kucinich just asked the 64,000 dollar question and one I'd really like the answer to!


The official in charge of the Treasury's $700 billion bailout program for the financial sector warned Congress that the government should not force banks to make loans that bankers may deem risky.

Neel Kashkari, interim assistant secretary for financial stability at Treasury, told a congressional oversight panel Wednesday that bad lending practices were at the root of the financial crisis and cautioned Congress not to "micromanage" institutions that receive government funds.

"However well-intended, government officials are not positioned to make better commercial decisions than lenders in our communities," he said.

Subcommittee chairman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, complained that at least three financial institutions that have received TARP money -- Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. -- have made foreign investments.

"If the banking system is in serious enough trouble to require massive amounts of federal support, shouldn't that federal support be channeled to the domestic economy?" Kucinich asked.

The misgivings were bipartisan.