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Even with the backing of Congress, the Oversight Panel didn't have any better luck than we did getting answers from the Treasury Department about how banks are spending 187 billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
"I was very surprised at the number of questions that we put to Treasury for which we receive no response at all."
"What do you think that..."
"Deeply was. It's deeply surprised."
Warren's Congressional Oversight Panel asked the Treasury Department 45 questions, but says Treasury did not provide complete answers and failed to address a number of questions at all. Therefore, more than three months into the bailout, the Panel still does not know what the banks are doing with the taxpayer money. The Troubled Assets Relief Program called TARP for short was supposed to buy failed mortgage assets but it morphed into an entirely different approach: invest the funds in big banks. The Oversight Panel said their initial concerns have grown due to Treasury's shifting explanations. Today, a treasury spokesman said they're trying to track the funds, but that there will be no shift in strategy to make banks more accountable.
"It's a really tough challenge because, of course, you know, you know there are many factors at work."
“We will get this information. And, let's be clear, Treasury may not tell us everything, but we're making our own independent investigations. They're not the only ones who understand how the pieces of this work.”
The bailout was supposed to bolster faith in the economy, but the Oversight Panel says for Treasury to have given the funds without greater oversight erodes the very confidence they're trying to restore.
Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, Capitol Hill.