If you are looking for opinions on the current state of the country, former TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky is opening up about what he thinks of America. And, if you ask him, the whole nation might be pretty damn fucked.
Barofsky served the watchdog role for the Troubled Asset Relief Fund for years and knows a thing or two about how money and politics are paired in Washington. Now with the current state of the country still causing concern even after his tenure with TARP, Barofsky made little effort to paint a pretty picture to the readers of Gawker.com when offering his input.In a question-and-answer session hosted on the website this week, one commenter didn’t hold back by asking Barofsky for confirmation on America’s current condition.“So we're just totally fucked, right?” a user with the online handle grebeck asked. “As citizens, like no-way-out fucked?”Barofsky eventually responded to the inquiry with a bit of optimism, but not before confirming that fear with a simple, two-word statement.“Pretty fucked,” Barofsky wrote.“But there is a way-out,” he added. “We need to convince those seeking or trying to retain power that they will not get our votes unless and until they commit to meaningful change of a financial system. Might not work until we are in the grips of another crisis, but worth trying until then”In recent weeks Barofsky has used a whirlwind of media appearances to attack the Obama administration — especially Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner — but even with adamant critique addressing what he considered the country’s current problems, Barofsky now says that there might — just might — be a little bit of hope in terms of turning the country around.If not, though: yup. We’re fucked. When Standard & Poor’s announced last year that they had downgraded America’s credit rating, former Obama administration economic adviser Christina Romer had similar words for television host Bill Maher. When asked how the S&P decision would impact the country, Romer told the TV personality that the US is “pretty darn fucked.”