U.S. Bailouts Reach $4.7 Trillion, No End in Sight

The total dollar figure that the U.S. government has spent to bailout a badly broken financial system has now reached $4.7 trillion according to a watchdog report made public yesterday. The report further noted that this figure is equal to one-third of the entire U.S. economy and that, left unchecked, every indication is that the U.S. taxpayer will pony up as much as $24 trillion by the time all is said and done. That figure, by the way, is equal to $80,000 for every American.

The figures, put forth by non-partisan Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky, paint an ugly picture of the U.S. economy and spending. Barofsky specifically accused the U.S. Treasury Department of failing to adopt past recommendations from his group that would have made government financial bailout efforts more transparent. Admittedly, Barofsky’s worst-case scenario estimates include gross exposure rather than "net" exposure, i.e. – they take into account collateralized loans made by the U.S. government.

Predictably, various government officials and bureaucrats tried to talk their way out of the trouble. Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams noted that, "While quantity and quality of the assets backing all these programs vary, ignoring that side of these programs misrepresents ‘potential exposure’ associated with them." Of course, what Williams didn’t note is the fact that the word "trillion" is associated in any way, shape or form with the amount of money the government has spent on this disgraceful fiasco is a failure in and of itself. On a positive note, we will all have really great – and less expensive - healthcare sometime next week...or so we hear.