$12.5 Trillion and Counting

Bloomberg News reports the government has already committed
up to $11.7 trillion so far to rescue the financial system. The economic
stimulus bill cost nearly $800 billion. That adds up to $12.5 trillion with possibly more to come.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is now joining Britain
in urging other nations to spend more in an effort to break the recession.

"Everything we do in the United States will be more
effective if we have the world with us," Geithner said.

But Congress still wants to know how troubled banks are
spending the billions of taxpayer dollars they have already received.
"(The) treasury just does not know what Wall Street is doing with government funds," said Rep. Edolphus Towns D-NY.

Washington may not know what Wall Street and the banks are
doing with the money that has already been loaned out. But with the economic situation deteriorating, the government is already gearing up to debate the possibility of spending more to turn the crisis around.