Thom Hartmann: Secret low-interest lending program by the Fed?

You need to know this. Forget about the $700 billion dollars in federal aid known as TARP that went to the banksters back in 2008. That was just the tip of the iceberg. According to new secret documents released yesterday by the Federal Reserve - between 2007 and this year - the Fed pumped more than 3 trillion dollars into the hands of banks and businesses to stave off financial collapse. 3 trillion dollars! Most of that money came in the form of short term lending - banks were given billions of dollars at interest rates of a half percent or even sometimes as low as .0077%. That's essentially free money. So exactly who benefited from this secret low-interest lending program by the Fed? The usual suspects - Citigroup - Lehman Brothers - and Merrill Lynch. Foreign banks took advantage too - like UBS of Switzerland and BNP Paribas of France. Also - Americans businesses like McDonalds - Verizon - and Caterpillar received some of the cake as well. Suntrust Bank received about $7.5 billion - directly from their own CEO who happened to also be serving on the Board of Directors at the Atlanta Federal Reserve at the time. At the height of this program - in 2008 - the Fed had over $1.5 trillion in outstanding loans. The release of these documents - showing more than 21,000 transactions unknown until now - highlights the need for a more transparent Federal Reserve. An issue that's been advanced by Members of Congress like Ron Paul in the House and Bernie Sanders in the Senate. It also shows just how strong Wall Street's grip on our government is. Banksters profited off this program and now sit on mountains of cash - while small businesses suffer around the country and can't get their own loans. The very same financial institutions that received loans at an interest rate of less than a half percent - now are charging their credit card users a 30% interest rate. Sound fair to you?? On top of that - these institutions spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress during the financial reform debate - while at the same time they were borrowing free money from the government. This is insanity. It's time to change our priorities in our country.

-Thom

(What do you think should have been done with the money? Tell us here.)