For those who haven’t seen the YouTube coverage of Senator Bernie Sanders 8½ hour filibuster on December 10, 2010, I highly recommend it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXLJBaoz0Ew

The whole speech is available on C-SPAN http://www.c-span.org/

Maria Gilardin, host of TUC Radio, has also recorded four 30 minute excerpts from the filibuster. The first, played on January 29, 2011 can be heard here: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/48892

The January 29th segment contains interesting details (not disclosed in the mainstream media) of the secret $12.5 trillion Federal Reserve bailout the Fed was forced to disclose on December 1, 2010. This was after a lot of stonewalling, which included losing an appeal in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Sanders and other progressives, along with Ron Paul and other libertarian Republicans, included an amendment in the July 2010 financial reform act to require the Fed to disclose exactly which banks, corporations and individuals received these secret bailouts. After losing their court battle, the Fed had no choice but to comply on December 1st.

The contrast between Fox Business (http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/07/federal-reserves-bailout-rich-connected/)  and Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/12/01/GR2010120108165.html) coverage of this shocking disclosure is quite startling. For the Post, which omits important context, it seems to be a non-event.

Neither mentions the GAO investigation Sanders has instigated regarding clear conflicts of interest (Fed members with financial interest in companies that received money) that have occurred. Nor challenges why trillions of dollars of taxpayer money could be spent bailing out foreign banks and corporations without the knowledge or authorization of our elected representatives – at the expense of jobs programs, foreclosure relief,  and small business loan guarantees that would directly benefit Americans. Especially given that much of this bailout money is borrowed and substantially increases the federal debt. And the fact that Toyota and Mitsubishi are in direct competition with struggling US auto makers.

Here is a brief selection of the secret foreign bailouts that occurred:

• Toyota and Mitsubishi  – $5 billion

• Bank of Japan – $380 billion

• Central Bank of South Korea – $40 billion

• Development Bank of Korea – $2 billion

• Bank of Bavaria – $2.2 billion

• Arab Banking Corp (Bahrain) – $23 billion

Sanders also talks about the secret bailouts GE, McDonald’s and other non-banking corporations received, and the Fox link talks about individual entrepreneurs who received bailouts, as well as hedge and other offshore funds located in the Cayman Islands.

---