Congressman Baca asked Ben Bernanke a very simple question about AIG: “When was it broken?” That question has a very simple answer: “1999.” But Bernanke didn’t want to admit that the deregulation passed in 1999 brought about the mess at AIG and elsewhere.

Michael Capuano (D-MA) did the best job grilling Geithner and Bernanke about Geithner’s new bailout plan today. He challenged Geither’s claim that this leverages private investment at a 6 to 1 ratio, arguing that with the FDIC funding, it’s actually 13 to 1.

He then asks how much toxic assets are out there, noting that there are more than a trillion dollars of toxic assets out there.

Congressman Donald Manzullo (R-IL) read this line in Tim Geithner’s opening statement to the House Financial Services Committee today.

AIG directly guarantees over $30 billion of 401(k) and pension plan investments and is a leading provider of retirement services for teachers and educational institutions.

And this line in Ben Bernanke’s opening statement.

Workers whose 401(k) plans had purchased $40 billion of insurance from AIG against the risk that their stable value funds would

Gresham Barrett (R-SC) asked Tim Geithner “the $64 trillion question”–basically, what is Plan B.

Geithner’s response? Don’t worry. It’ll work. That wasn’t acceptable when President Bush had no Plan B in Iraq, and it’s not acceptable here.

Maxine Waters got into one key area of distrust on the bailouts: the ubiquity of Goldman Sachs in bailout plans.

Tim Geithner sure didn’t seem all that interested in Waters’ questions on the bailout.

Hearing is on CSPAN3 and the committee thread. In addition to Geithner and Bernanke, the head of the NY Fed, William Dudley, is also here.

For my liveblog on the statements, go here (it’s mostly an excerpt of their statements).

For the first set of member questions, go here.

Hearing is on CSPAN3 and the committee thread. In addition to Geithner and Bernanke, the head of the NY Fed, William Dudley, is also here.

For my liveblog on the statements, go here (it’s mostly an excerpt of their statements).

Frank: Begin with Bernanke. First an announcement. We have a lot of members here, important hearing.

A few days ago, this hearing might have focused on why we need to bribe the banksters to clean up their mess. Now, it will undoubtedly focus on why we’re socializing risk some more. We’ll also have William Dudley, the new head of the NY Fed. The Honorable Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary, U.S.

To manage the auto bailout, Obama picked someone who doesn’t know shit about the industry. To manage the Wall Street bailout, Obama picked a crowd that was deeply involved in all the crappy decisions that got us into this mess. I may not love the choice of Rattner to lead the auto task force. But he may help us to avoid the rigid ideology of the Wall Street bailout team.

Sy Hersh’s recent discussion at University of Minnesota revealed the edges of the way Dick Cheney worked. By reading Hersh’s work in conjunction with a recent CRS report, it suggests more about how and why Cheney did what he did.