From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Originally published Sunday, Feb. 1

The government has a Katrina problem. Namely: How do you spend ginormous sums of cash and expect to have any idea where the money went?

A report by the Government Accountability Office said this is a growing problem for the $700 billion bank bailout program. “The lack of a clearly articulated vision has complicated Treasury’s ability to effectively communicate to Congress, the financial markets and the public the benefits and has limited ability to identify personnel needs,” the GAO wrote.

We like the way the Obama administration has made transparency a priority. This is critical for the economic recovery plan … Every time another story surfaces about fancy jets, big bonuses and failures of banks to lend, well, the very idea of emergency government assistance to the financial sector is at risk of evaporating faster than market support.