Of transparency, stimulus, ‘global warming’ and good neighbors

I am sure some of you will recall a concern I expressed in this space last February. I asked the question, “Is there a fox in the hen house?” in my observation of the appointment of the secretary of the Treasury.

It was occasioned by my concern about what I perceived to be the lack of prudence in overseeing the actions of organizations under the purview of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York while the Treasury secretary designee was in charge of that institution.

Early on we heard much about the promise of “transparency” in federal actions by the current administration, which is a laudable promise but which has perhaps been forgotten in the process of attempting to attain success in political objectives.

Illustrative of this is the recent disclosure that the New York Fed appears to have instructed the American International Group to withhold details from the public about its payments to others during the financial crisis.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) obtained copies of e-mails between the Fed and AIG that purport to support this lack of public disclosure. From reports, it appears that the Treasury secretary designee recused himself from being involved with specific companies coming before the Fed.

However, it is reported that these actions by the Fed may have cost we taxpayers some $13 billion. Congressman Issa has stated that taxpayers “deserve full and complete disclosure under our nation’s securities laws, not the withholding of politically inconvenient information.”

The most recent action in this situation appears to be that Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, will subpoena the New York Fed regarding this matter.

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According to a release by the White House, the $787 billion economic stimulus package has created or saved between 1.7 million and 2 million jobs. The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors states that one-third of the spending and tax cuts in the package are out the door.

From what I’ve been able to glean, Culpeper has had 14 jobs created as a result of that package. The State Theatre project affords an opportunity to greatly increase the benefit to Culpeper from that package. I wrote about that opportunity some time back and received a comment that an application was made and denied. I’d be interested to know why it was denied, if that is the case.

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I’m sure this recent period of global warming has gotten your attention, I know it has mine. This has been especially hard on those who must work in it and, for a short period of time until the roads are cleared, for those who must travel in it (kudos to all those involved in clearing our roads).

It is also hard on animal life. My family recently lost Salt (an Angus) and Johnny Thunder (a Tennessee Walking Horse). They were both senior citizens, and that undoubtedly contributed.

Goodbye, Salt and Johnny Thunder: You are missed.

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It is a too rare occurrence that one is blessed to have a truly exceptional neighbor. I’ve lived in quite a number of places and had some good neighbors, but here in Culpeper I have one of those exceptional ones.

Thanks, Kevin Reed.

Bayne’s column runs every Sunday.