Bailout spending has no oversight yet

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Forty percent of the $700 billion federal rescue has been spent but program oversight mandated by Congress has yet to begin, a U.S. Treasury official said.

"It's a mess," Eric Thorson, Treasury's inspector general told The Washington Post. "I don't think anyone understands right now how we're gong to do proper oversight of this thing."

The deadline for the first oversight report mandated in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act has come and gone, although no appointments to the committee designed to monitor the massive bailout package for corruption and waste have been made, the Post reported.

The bill allows for a special inspector with a budget of $50 million. The responsibilities of the committee include conducting audits of companies to ensure assets purchased by the government are valued properly.

Neil Barofsky, a federal prosecutor in New York, is a lead candidate for the position, the Post reported. Sources told the Post his nomination could occur by the end of the week.