Flawed on many levels

Below are four news snippets that have hidden issues associated with the $700,000,000,000.00 bailout in the papers today: The first smacks of 'inbred nepotism', the second an instance of 'the fox guarding the henhouse', the third reeks of 'siphoning public cash to the CEOs' whilst the fourth talks about 'a clear conflict of interest'.

• The Treasury Department said that it would soon post help-wanted ads on its Web site for asset managers to run the bailout program and that because of the urgency, the hiring may be “through other than full and open competition.”
• Former Goldman Sachs employee, Neel Kashkari has been appointed the bailout czar and will lead the bailout. By the way, a useful way to pronounce this Indian last name is ‘Cash Carry’ per Michelle. Fitting indeed.
• Under a proposal being discussed with the Treasury Department, the Fed could buy vast amounts of the unsecured short-term debt that companies rely on to finance their day-to-day activities. The move would put more taxpayer dollars at risk. Buying commercial paper could open the Fed to difficult conflicts of interest, because it would be juggling the goals of protecting its investment portfolio with its traditional goals of promoting stable prices and low unemployment.
• Administration officials plan to outsource almost the entire bailout effort, which will largely rely on “reverse auctions” in which the government accepts bids from financial institutions that want to sell their troubled assets. The Treasury is accepting bids only from experienced investment managers, almost all of which are likely to be either sellers or buyers of mortgage-backed securities.

Is it any wonder that the economy is in shambles? Meanwhile, the presidential candidates seem to be busy launching personal attacks at each other. Nero fiddles while... The bailout looks more and more like a big 'up yours' neon sign out of D.C.

Photos of Kwang-Young Chun's mulberry paper on small polystyrene form sculptures at the Robert Miller Gallery (exhibition on from Sept 4 - Oct 11)