A database to track TARP money

Congress is working on legislation to create a database for the Treasury Department to monitor and oversee how money is being spent in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The idea is to continuously keep lawmakers and federal auditors up-to-date about TARP spending. It will be a compilation of information containing company news releases, financial reports, and other public and private sources of information.

The database is similar to the one that has been developed for Recovery.gov, a public database that tracks stimulus spending in a variety of ways, including by state or zip code. The Recovery.gov database is public and transparent, available to anyone who is seeking information.

Some open government advocates want the TARP database to be available to the public, too, but have not been able to convince lawmakers that it is a good idea.

For more on the TARP database:
- see this nextgov.com article

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