Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) says more oversight, not secrecy is what the Federal Reserve needs. :16

 

 Standard Podcast [0:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rep. Ron Paul (R- Texas) says the Federal Reserve is no longer fulfilling the role it was created to fill, so he believes the entity needs government oversight. :34

 

 Standard Podcast [0:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Federal Reserve Board of Governors General Counsel Scott Alvarez says that if Rep. Ron Paul’s (R- Texas) H.R. 1207 proposal is enacted, the public would lose confidence in the Fed’s ability to control interest rates and monetary policies. :44

 

 Standard Podcast [0:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) gives his opening statements at the hearing at the Committee on Oversight and Government regarding the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch merger. He stated that no entity has the explicit ability to force mergers (1:14)

 

 Standard Podcast [1:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

We can’t let things go back to the way they were with the United States Financial System according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday. Geithner joined Newsweek Magazine editor, Jon Meacham, at a luncheon interview on the topic of the recession and what American’s should expect as the steps to recovery continue to be put into action.

“This is still the most challenging economic crisis that this country has seen in generations. It took a long time for these problems to build up,” Geithner said. “It’s going to take time for us to work through them. We’re not going to have a steady, even process of repair, it’s going to be bumpy, still feel fragile for a while.”

Geithner expressed his sympathy for struggling Americans and said he understands why Americans are angry. He said that even as growth inevitably begins to turn positive, unemployment will continue to increase for awhile. He also said, “It’s not going to feel better for a long time for millions of Americans.”

As the administration continues to work its way through this economic crisis, Geithner believes they need to take a “fresh look” at the financial system as a whole. In terms of speed and quality of initiative that are already in progress, he said he thinks the administration is doing well.

“The American people want to see us moving to change things, not just waiting and hoping,” he said.

Meacham asked Geithner about people’s critique that the administration was being too lenient. Geither replied, “I actually think that what the President has put in place is the most aggressive approach to solving a financial crisis than we’ve seen from any serious country in a very long period of time.”

He also noted that they are doing more preventative work and referred to it as a type of insurance from a greater recession. They are working to make the system more stable and plan to release a new set of proposals in the next few weeks for reforming the oversight framework.

Professor Linda Bilmes of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University speaks with Jay Goodman Tamboli about her new book, The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service and the staffing crisis that faces the American government. Bilmes and co-author W. Scott Gould are calling on a federal investment of $10 billion over the next five years to improve recruiting, training, and management of the federal workforce. (10:33)

 

 Standard Podcast [10:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had harsh words for Department of Defense officials at a committee hearing on sexual assault in the military. Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said “there is a clear problem within DoD.” John Tierney (D-Mass.) said the Defense Department had not done their job as far responding to accusations of sexual assault. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said that sexual assault and rape must be prosecuted equally in civilian life and in the military. Currently, she said, the two contexts are different.

Director of the Defense Capabilities and Management for the U.S. Government Accountability Office Brenda Farrell said that according to survey data, 6.8 percent of women and 1.8 percent of men in the military had experienced “unwanted sexual contact,” during the last 12 months. She said that the majority chose not to report it. In a survey to 14 bases, 103 service members said they were sexually assaulted. Farrel said that the GAO concluded that the Defense Department had made progress, but they had ” not adequately addressed some important issues,” such as encouraging a system that supports reporting of sexual assault. Farrell said that in the GAO survey, 91 to 98 percent of those polled felt that their direct supervisor would address sexual assault.

Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office for the Department of Defense Kaye Whitley said that Feb. 13, 2004, the Defense Department created a sexual assault task force. She said that the Pentagon knew of the problem of sexual assault, but that the commanders must report it, and deal with it harshly. Whitley had been subpoenaed for an earlier hearing date in July but the Defense Department advised her not to testify. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) criticized Whitley, “We don’t want someone weak in this office, we want someone who shakes it up and gets in trouble…It feels like your being abused in a different way.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says that there was a dramatic contrast between the number of subpoenas issued by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) during the Clinton administration and by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) during the Bush administration, saying that a lack of oversight over the last six years has allowed for the executive branch to be secretive without interference. (0:40)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says that US government agencies were once considered to the best of their kind, adding that Republicans seem to try to make government not work. (0:33)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Gary Schenkel, Director of the Federal Protective Service (FPS), discusses how since taking over as director he has seen his department succeed in protecting Washington, D.C. despite a lack of sufficient government funding. (0:32)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download