Letter to editor: Oversight of rescue spending

On April 16, I heard a member of the Congressional Oversight Commission, Bharat Ramamurti, discuss the $2.2 trillion rescue bill that the commission is tasked with monitoring. He mentioned that the $500 billion to be given to large corporations, no strings attached, would instead be used as collateral to borrow $5 trillion which would be given to large corporations.

This is taxpayer debt. We should know where the money went. Will this be like TARP (the 2008 government program in response to the economic crisis), where no records were kept and some of the loans never got paid back?

Also in the $2.2 trillion rescue bill are tax changes. One change gives real estate tycoons $200 billion in savings. Another change gives 80% of the benefits to people making over $1 million annually. Meanwhile, small businesses, which really need the money, can’t get any.

Then there is the situation with Wall Street. The Fed has been printing trillions to pump up corporations and the stock market. The Fed is even buying junk bonds. All these trillions of dollars are going to large banks, no strings attached, and Wall Street. This money is going to the wealthy few and not the average American. But the average American is going to have to pay back the debt.

Sen. Pat Toomey is on the rescue bill oversight committee. If you are upset about the way this massive amount of taxpayer money is being spent, let him hear your voice.

Michael Garing

North Huntingdon