President-elect Barack Obama has asked President Bush to request the 2nd half of the $700 billion financial bailout money. While Congress considers Obama's request, they are concerned how the first half of the bailout money was spent. The treasury department has failed to provide enough insights regarding how the $350 billion was distributed. "Many of us have been disappointed with the absence of clarity, the lack of transparency, the failure to track how the money's been spent and the failure to take bold action with respect to areas like housing," Obama said. Apparently, none of the $350 billion bailout money was provided to home owners who are facing foreclosure. Many experts have considered aid to foreclosures a key to stabilize the housing market turmoil. They say the deteriorating housing market is leading the downward spiral of our economy and must be stabilized, before the economy can turn around. "My commitment is that we are going to fundamentally change some of the practices in using this next phase of the program. We're going to focus on housing foreclosures, we're going to focus on small businesses, we're going to focus on what's required to make sure that credit is flowing to consumers and businesses," Obama promised.