To: StockGamer who wrote (28438 ) 1/15/2012 9:36:37 PM From: FCom777 2 Recommendations Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 222604 StockGamer, First off, I want to give you the credit you deserve for even delving into the numbers. Not many do. And I agree that given current interest rates and the numbers cited, the payments even seem credible. I too recall when the news was released and you are absolutely correct that numerous news sources reported same. The numbers cited were in the tens of billions - chicken change compared to the GAO audit's numbers which showed that 25 to 30 TRILLION dollars were handed out - no restrictions - to corporations and banks - many foreign based. Huh ! Surely you agree the following are credible sources: GAO Audit Reportsanders.senate.gov Sanders Summary of Committee Findingssanders.senate.gov Letter From Congressman Graysonjohnhively.wordpress.com The point being, how credible is the Fed's claim that it is earning the US Treasury profits measured in tens of billions when they are literally handing out Trillions to their cronies? Don't you see the disconnect here ? And why isn't the media all over this? Like they were in 70's when Nixon went afoul of the law. The scary part is that they apparently have their eye on MUCH more. CONGRESSMAN GRAYSON: I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I’m dramatizing or amplifying what this GAO report says, so I’m just going to list some of my favorite parts, by page number. Page 131 – The total lending for the Fed’s “broad-based emergency programs” was $16,115,000,000,000. That’s right, more than $16 trillion. The four largest recipients, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, received more than a trillion dollars each. The 5th largest recipient was Barclays PLC. The 8th was the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, PLC. The 9th was Deutsche Bank AG. The 10th was UBS AG. These four institutions each got between a quarter of a trillion and a trillion dollars. None of them is an American bank. Page 205 – Separate and apart from these “broad-based emergency program” loans were another $10,057,000,000,000 in “currency swaps.” In the “currency swaps,” the Fed handed dollars to foreign central banks, no strings attached, to fund bailouts in other countries…. These currency swaps and the “broad-based emergency program” loans, together, totaled more than $26 trillion. That’s almost $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. That’s an amount equal to more than seven years of federal spending — on the military, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the debt, and everything else. And around twice America’s total GNP…. If the Fed had extended $26 trillion in credit to the American people instead of Wall Street, would there be 24 million Americans today who can’t find a full-time job?