And while it’s still awful, it’s a heck of a lot better than the 4-page Blank Memo for a Blank Check.
Make no mistake–the attention brought to this, and the courage of the House GOP, has accomplished enough to make sure that, among other things, money for the thugs at ACORN and La Raza looks to have been stripped. Here’s a snippet from the WaPo coverage, but please do read this first coverage in its entirety.
Lawmakers Reach Accord on Huge Financial Rescue
…House and Senate negotiators from both parties emerged with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. at 12:30 a.m. from a marathon session in the Capitol to announce that they had reached a tentative agreement on a proposal to give Paulson broad authority to organize one of the biggest government interventions in the private sector since the Great Depression.
Full details of the plan were not immediately available. Lawmakers said their staffs would be working through the night to assemble the package and post it on the Internet…
The money would be dispersed in segments, with Paulson receiving $250 billion immediately, $100 billion upon White House certification of its necessity and the final $350 billion only after Congress has been given 15 days to object…
Democrats also made a number of concessions, abandoning demands that bankruptcy judges be empowered to modify home mortgages on primary residences for people in foreclosure. They also agreed not to dedicate a portion of any profits from the bailout program to an affordable housing fund that Republicans claimed would primarily assist social service organizations that support the Democratic Party, the official said. [That would be ACORN and La Raza]
That’s right–Democrats were looking to find a way to pad the wallets of their supporters in a bill to stem a financial crisis because of the corrupt and misuse of money. This bill is going to cost us a trillion dollars, but that kind of rank corruption, attempting to give money to ACORN and La Raza in the midst of all this, is priceless.
Too bad they actually had to work through the weekend because waving around a piece of paper with ‘principles’ on it to guide the Blank Memo wasn’t enough.
Here’s a bit from the early WSJ coverage:
…Overall, staff said they had successfully expanded the original two-and-a-half-page Treasury proposal delivered to Congress a week ago to include significant oversight of the asset-purchase program, executive compensation restrictions, the potential for equity stakes in firms that participate in the asset-sale program, and other protections for taxpayers that will be key to attracting bipartisan support during votes this week.
Remember, if the House GOP hadn’t decided to revolt, and if McCain hadn’t gone to Washington essentially usurping Bush’s so-called leadership of the Republicans, we very likely would have been looking at a vote approving of that insultingly ridiculous “original two-and-a-half-page Treasury proposal.”
Does the “bill” include the much needed term limits provision on the Senate and the House?
Thus ensuring that useless career political hacks can no longer rise without trace, and by sheer longevity control the live of ordinary Americans, who just want to be left the eff alone by the likes of Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, et al.
Term limits would be great! Also to make totally clear who the culprits were.
Making this bill transparent to the public is a good start.
Amazing at junk some tried to attach to this plan. It doesn’t surprise me but it does amaze.
I still have my doubts about this thing because the main reasons for failure are still in place.
Sorry to sound so cynical but I can’t trust a politician with tax payers money and given this amount involved…..well…….
Here’s a side by side comparison of the various bailout proposals, including the *final* agreement (it’s a .pdf file) from Roy Blount’s office. The original Word document can be found here.
Might as well throw away the Constitution, board up the White House and put a crown on Henry Paulson’s head. The Wall Street honchos should show up at work tomorrow wearing powdered wigs and holding snuff boxes.
Thank you Marleed. This is a much better version but I’m still uneasy about it.
It’s not just still awful, this is still totally unacceptable! And it’s not over yet, I’ve been watching the one-minute speeches on C-SPAN today and the House reps, (Democrats and Republicans alike), are still against it. They know we don’t want it and are bravely putting up a fight like you wouldn’t believe. They know it’s not right! The normal legislative process is being tossed in the ditch so the one’s responsible for this mess in the first place can hide.
I’m proud of my representative, Jimmy Duncan, who called it nothing more than a CYA bill.
We need to keep calling.
The less focus on Baraq’s government funded base, ACORN, the wider his Cheshire Cat grin gets.
Of course, he didn’t want to get into that fray.
Barney Buns just couldn’t talk faster than McCain’s plane.
Bush lives under the bizarre fantasy that history will vindicate him. And on the question of the Iraq War that would be true – if honest men and women were writing the history books.
But I have a news flash for Bush. The history departments in the majority of American universities are staffed by overwhelming majorities of professors whose views on the world resemble folks like William Ayers and Mother Sheehan.
Far from being remembered as another Ronald Reagan, Bush will be remembered (by the few honest historians left) as a combination of the worst aspects of Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher – namely, an overwhelmingly weak leader who inadvertently helped to grease the skids for Der Fuhrer from Chicago.
From my my Rep, Cathy McMorris Rogers. You can see it in nicer format at:
http://rodgers.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=1999877089.73195.6&gen=1
Highlights of Early Draft of Economic Rescue Proposal
Help for Main Street:
If after five years, the government has a net loss as a result of the purchase program, the President is required to submit a proposal to recoup those losses from the entities that benefited from this program.
Provides for warrants of non-voting stock in companies receiving assistance so that taxpayers have an opportunity to recoup any losses.
Allows community banks to take capital losses on Government Sponsored Entity (GSE) assets against ordinary income, providing much needed relief for local banks.
Authorizes government agencies that hold mortgages to do work-outs with troubled borrowers provided such workouts do not harm the interests of taxpayers.
Assistance Funded By Wall Street, Not Main Street:
Requires the establishment of an insurance guarantee program that in lieu of purchasing assets with taxpayer funds is available to insure assets at no cost to the taxpayer. Costs would be fully paid for by participating companies (i.e. those receiving the assistance). Assets insured by the program would count against the total funds the Secretary would otherwise have available to make purchases.
Eliminating Special Interest Earmarks: Prior to House Republicans stepping in, Democrats had loaded up the bill with special interest provisions. Provisions removed by House Republicans include:
Provision to provide unions and other activist groups with proxy access for corporate boards
Provision to mandate shareholder votes on compensation issues (union priority)
Diversion of funds into a housing fund to support left-wing activist groups like ACORN
A provision to allow trial judges to arbitrarily adjust mortgages, creating a bonanza for trial lawyers
A provision to require the government to sell to state and local governments at a discount homes the government acquires as a result of foreclosure
Congressional Accountability Over Expenditure of Funds:
Of the total $700 billion provided, $250 billion is available now, $100 billion is available with Presidential approval and the final $350 billion is available only with Congressional approval.
Establishes a bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel.
Establishes a Special Inspector General to monitor the program.
Directs the Government Accountability Office to review and audit the program.
Corporate Accountability & Reform:
Requires a study on the role of the mark-to-market rules and their impact on the current financial crisis.
Authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend the mark-to-market rules.
Establishes workable executive compensation limits to ensure that bad actors who contributed to this crisis are not rewarded with golden parachutes or severance pay.
——————————————————————————–
Early Draft of Economic Rescue Proposal
Myth vs. Fact
Myth: Windfall for ACORN.
Fact: The Frank-Dodd proposal created an affordable housing slush fund and directed 20 percent of net benefits from the program to be directed to ACORN-type organizations. The proposed compromise does not include any affordable housing slush fund and directs all net benefits back to the Treasury to pay down the national debt.
Myth: Tax increase on financial industry.
Fact: The proposed compromise imposes NO tax on the financial services industry. The proposed compromise simply requires a proposal from the Administration to recoup any losses after five years.
Fact: The proposed compromise includes tax cuts for struggling community banks.
Myth: Blank check for $700 billion with little accountability.
Fact: In general, the Treasury Secretary is limited to purchasing up to $250 billion outstanding at any one time. If the Treasury needs to use another $100 billion, the President must certify this action and report to Congress. Further spending requires Congressional action.
Myth: Treasury plan is the only option available.
Fact: Treasury is given multiple options to deal with the current economic crisis, including insurance, public/private auctions, loan guarantees, and direct support to financial institutions.
Fact: Further, Treasury is MANDATED to create an insurance program (Section 102) that protects the taxpayers and requires companies that wish to participate in this program to have some skin in the game by paying risk-based premiums.
Myth: The taxpayer is not adequately protected.
Fact: The proposed compromise includes strong taxpayer protections. Treasury’s proposal had minimal oversight to protect taxpayer dollars. The proposed compromise enhanced the oversight structure by creating a Financial Stability Oversight Board, a Special Inspector General, and a Congressional Oversight Panel.
All AIG-type deals require mandatory equity interest in order to provide taxpayers with potential future benefits. All auctions require a percentage of equity interest based on participation in the program.
Requires the Secretary to develop regulations/guidelines necessary to prohibit or, in specific cases, manage any conflicts of interest with respect to contractors, advisors, and asset managers.
Myth: The taxpayer does not benefit from Treasury bailouts.
Fact: The proposed compromise (Section 113) requires mandatory equity interest in scenarios like AIG. The proposed compromise also allows Treasury to take an equity interest in the program generally.
Myth: Treasury will never use the insurance option.
Fact: Treasury is mandated (Section 102) to establish an insurance program and set risk-based premiums. This will protect taxpayers by requiring the beneficiaries of the insurance program to pay risk-based premiums.
The US House of Representative’s website is a bit jammed, so I put a .pdf of the latest copy of the bailout proposal here for your convenience. Read it and weep! It could be worse, I suppose. . . but then Gustav, or Katrina could have been worse too, right!?
Well, Boehner told us to enjoy our ‘crap sandwich’..taste good yet? I lost my party, officially now. The GOP is dead. The Democrat Party is dead. The only thing left are us Patriots..I refuse to vote for any and I mean any incumbent this election. I have had enough of them all.
If we were not at war and if I did not have a worse feeling about Obama than the GOP right now, I myself would vote for Mickey Mouse, at least he is more real than what we see in our pols..
Regarding Pathman’s detailed account:
“All AIG-type deals require mandatory equity interest” That means the federal government takes the equity interest (as in shares) in private property* exposing it to political tampering. That is to say it puts the likes of Maxine Waters, Barney Frank and other Marxists inside the company. It’s stupid, destructive and dangerous. If it’s not already against the law it should be.
*AIG is PRIVATE PROPERTY. The streets and roads connecting its buildings and land to other private properties are PUBLIC PROPERTY. Its intellectual capital, as in the way it organizes against its competition, and any patents, industry secretes and copyrights it may hold, are (were) also private property.
Contrast that with a court order to sell a property to remedy the offensive or negligent behavior of a defendant a contract dispute.
When people can vote to seize your property, take a “for profit” equity position in it then sell it, a new motivation is created to seize. A group of politicians can force me to sell my property to another entity who may be bankrolling the re-election campaign of that group. Cronyism and mob rule ensue while profits from the forced liquidation of my property fund the government’s treasury.
There are three shades of this line of “equity interest.” One is an individual’s or company’s plea for help. Another is Government intervening in a distressed situation to protect the common good. A third is Government taking the initiative to seize property. The posture of “equity interest” ranges for helpful and reactive to predatory and proactive. It is the element of opportunism here which makes the whole idea an unseemly and corruptible temptation. Hank Paulson and the Dems want to help us for the common good. So they say.
Are AIG and others getting for help from the Godfather or from that Shining City on a Hill? Gee whiz. If we can flip houses, why not flip the foundations of the republic? Wealth and power are there for the taking in this blueprint for CHANGE.
The market is doing the correction that this House vote didn’t artificially accomplish. As someone else just said, I wouldn’t vote this Obama nonsense that these Pelosi led democrat congress (house particularly)gave the American people in the very frist place.