The government spent $175 million investigating the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
It spent $30 million investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
The government only authorized $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
And how much has the government authorized for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? You know, the commission charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis?
Just $8 million.
These figures don't account for inflation. For example, the Challenger investigation cost over $300 million in today's dollars.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations.
Unlike most things, the cost of lying is going down.
ReplyDeletebrilliant....
ReplyDeleteThe fraudulant 9/11 Commission got pennies as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're not grateful for the piddling amount spent to investigate the financial crisis? I am. Thank God they didn't spend more given what's likely to come out of it: Showmanship and 24 carat posturing. No, repeat, no, substancial reform EVER comes out of government investigations, any more than substantial reform EVER comes out of elections in the United States. Its the same old stuff decade after decade. The ruling elite and its campaign contribution bursars get richer and the rest of us get poorer. For thirty years or more this country has witnessed what has been the biggest upward transfer of wealth in the history of civilization. And now the only authentic recourse remaining to the American people are strikes and demonstrations. Anyone that still votes or calls their congressman needs a steady course of psychiatric treatment, frankly.
ReplyDeleteAndrei Vyshinsky
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/science/11maya.html?pagewanted=2&hp
ReplyDelete.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/05/11/science/11maya_graphic.html?ref=science
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and studies of ancient civilization will see their
budget doubled to 1 million. dark financial matter
gets trillions, that is alot of millions, right?
.
keyword: saturation. i can feel it.
Guess the government cares more about catching those pesky engineers who made a math error than finding those responsible for putting millions out of work...
ReplyDeleteSuch an investigation at THIS point, would be like conducting an investigation into the trail of blood leading away from the hospital, instead of investigating the trail of blood leading -into- the hospital, -where one might find out first-hand from a survivor who it was -exactly- that stabbed them.
ReplyDeleteGo into the street and ask the newly homeless THEIR stories. And individually seek criminal charges -where criminal charges are due-.
In other words, start at the bottom.
Someone was coaching all these many mortgage applicants to commit fraud. These people doing the coaching -need to be brought to justice -and- jailed.
Someone was also -in essence- committing acts of insider trading, -if they were betting against the mortgage portfolios they were bundling and selling to their clients.
The information that these mortgage portfolios -were what they were-, wasn't available to anyone for the purpose of "shorting" these financial instruments of deceit.
And anyone conspiring to force-or-lobby the government to fork-over bail-out money is clearly guilty of a heinous criminal fraud.
The government doesn't simply hand-out money to failing companies.
This is clearly -not- the role of government.
An investigation at the top is premature.
Good criminal cases are built from the bottom up.
This 8-million-dollar figure is meant only to pay for a cover-up.
There are already paid-criminal-investigators on the staff of a wide variety of federal agencies, -who could round up the likely suspects.
Take the $8 million and build a new jail to house these suspects while they await their trials -so they have enough chance to provide information to prosecutors about the criminal enterprises of the higher-ups.
It's funny how rotting in a jail can loosen a man's tongue -and- also quite often it will restore a failing memory.
US Real estate investigations compared to Clinton's real estate Whitewater investigation cost $80 million dollars...took 6 years...
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I also maintain the allocation of resources says a lot about the "values" in this country. Imagine the resource expenditures if their was a scandal involving Amrican Idol, Desperate Housewives and God forbid the iPad.
ReplyDeleteWitness the resources being expended today to get the SEC and Congress off the backs of HFT after the equity market drop last week. 98% of the loss back within 11 trading hours!
This vigilant grandpa simply shakes his head...
Our elected officials are the most out-of-touch liars and criminals on the face of the earth. They have surrendered the dark side - all of them.
ReplyDeleteLook at the bright side. They didn't spend 300 million and come up with the same conclusion. I could the answer to "what happened" for about a buck. It's the Fed stupid.
ReplyDeleteApples and oranges. What does 9/11 have to do with NASA? The Space Shuttle disasters were unknown mechanical failures that had to investigated. Do you not remember how both Space Shuttles disintegrated? It cost a lot to gather all the pieces and find the small, faulty pice that caused the failures. 9/11 had some one claim responsibility, OBL admitted to it, what else was there to investigate? The financial crisis could be seen coming for years.
ReplyDelete