OUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK

AND OBAMA SAYS GOVERNMENT IS THE ANSWER Watchdogs: Wall Street got extra $78 billion in bailout By Kevin G. Hall and Greg Gordon • McClatchy Newspapers • February 6, 2009 "WASHINGTON — The federal government overpaid by about $78 billion for stock and other troubled assets when it bailed out big banks last year, and it lacks sufficient internal controls to police and protect taxpayers’ investment in the institutions, government watchdogs said Thursday. Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the congressional oversight panel for the bailout effort, formally called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, is to release a report this morning on the $78-billion overpayment. Her report will follow a report issued Thursday by Neil Barofsky, the program’s new special inspector general, who said the Treasury Department needs to put more safeguards in place to protect taxpayers."