Towns to Use Chairmanship of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to Take Account of How Bailout $ Was Spent

New York Democrat Rep. Edolphus Towns is preparing to assume the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and is making it clear that his committee "plans to make oversight of Wall Street one of his top priorities of the year, starting with a look at how firms have spent federal bailout funds and whether executives have used the money to fund executive bonuses," according to Brody Mullins of the Wall Street Journal. Centered in Towns sights is his desire to achieve "a full accounting of how the first half of the $700 billion in funding was spent before the second half is released." Towns made his intentions known when he publicly said: "We cannot continue to give money away and then not hold somebody accountable for that money." Chairman Towns will present a more detailed outline of his oversight plans in a Washington, D.C. speech that is scheduled for today, January 14th. The Wall Street Journal, in remarks submitted by Chairman Towns, explains: "his two main concerns about Wall Street are that financial-services companies are not making loans with the bailout funds, and that executives are profiting from the money." Towns wants to know: "What did the American people get for the $350 billion," adding that "I must admit, I don't see the value at this point." The Journal paraphrased Towns' contention that "too many companies are sitting on their government-infused capital, rather than" in Towns' estimation "putting those resources in play to help fix our economy. This is unacceptable." Responding to the topic of executive pay and bonuses; Towns complained that: "I used to think that being a weatherman was the only job in America where you can get it wrong 80% of the time and still have a job." Clearly the issuance of bonuses to many corporate executives is a contentious point for Chairman Towns. The Journal summarized Towns intentions when: "He said his oversight panel will launch an investigation into executive pay and bonuses at companies that receive bailout money from the government." Towns emphasized his concerns when he said: "It is an abomination that so many firms who are receiving government funds continue to reward poor performance." The Journal explained that Chairman Towns also prioritizes "more vigorous oversight of the Obama administration than Republicans performed of the Bush administration." Towns continued with a critical assessment of the relationship between President Bush and the GOP Congress: "Looking back, the Republican Congress did the Bush administration no favors by turning a blind eye to problems created in the executive branch." The Journal continued by saying that Chairman Towns "... wants to make the administration more transparent, by making more information available to the public on presidential records, visitor logs and donors to presidential libraries. Mr. Towns said he wants to prevent companies that are delinquent on their taxes from getting government contracts." Towns also was paraphrased by the Journal as having a desire to possibly "hold hearings on the Bowl Championship Series used to determine a national college-football champion. Agreeing with similar interest expressed by President-elect Obama; Chairman Towns said: "I really feel that we need to take a look at it," to which he added: "What can we do to ensure that this is a fair situation and this is really the best team?"