The House Oversight Committee held part III of their hearing Bank of America and Merrill Lynch: How Did a Private Deal Turn Into a Federal Bailout? This time the key witness was former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Frankly, Stonewall Hank just let Ben Bernanke off the hook, with claims of Fed Privilege and confusion to deny the Federal Reserve threatened BoA, as well as it's clear Hank Paulson threatened BoA CEO with losing his job if he didn't go through with the Merrill Lynch merger, but the issue is what isn't being answered.

This is a side note but it maybe possible former CNBC financial journalist Dylan Ratigan is going to do some real financial reporting on his new show....stay tuned.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich

Not a single CEO of a systemically significant bank was removed from his job by government action for a misdeed or mistake. Nor has a single CEO of a systematically significant bank fully explained his role in creating the circumstances of financial crisis. The biggest, most powerful bankers have essentially received a free ride at taxpayers’ expense.

Here is a detail on a Deal with a Wink that BoA won't payback taxpayer funds:

Rep. Scott Garrett has some interesting structural comments on the idea of giving the Federal Reserve systemic regulatory authority. Basically nothing would be different. He also notes since CIT is getting the shaft, wouldn't every financial institution work damn hard to be too big to fail?

Baseline Scenario has a much better explanation of why some banks were saved, others left to the dogs. Interesting the most enlightening moments come from the people technically in the dark on what really happened trying to get some answers.