Senate Democrats Pick Nits, Instead of Handing Henry Paulson the Cash Like He Asked
Look, the federal government has come up with a perfectly simple solution to our country's economic woes. We give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson $700 billion of taxpayers' money and let him buy up all the crappy assets that have been causing trouble for financial institutions.
Henry used to run Goldman Sachs, which until yesterday was the world's preeminent investment bank. He's a smart guy. The bailout bill's on the table. What more do Senate Democrats need to know?
A provision offered up by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., would require companies who sell assets to Uncle Sam to give the government shares in the company, according to a draft obtained by CNN.
And the Senate Democrats' proposal would also require the government to come up with "a systematic approach for preventing foreclosures and ensuring long-term, sustainable homeownership through loan modifications and use of the HOPE for Homeowners Program" on the mortgages it buys in the bailout.
Provisions? Systematic approaches? Come on, people! This is a crisis. There's no time for frills like that!
The Bush administration is pushing for a "clean" bill to be passed quickly and not be loaded up with provisions that would deter companies from participating.
"[T]he whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets and prevent damage to our capital markets, businesses, our housing sector, and retirement accounts," President Bush said.
Exactly. If the Senate doesn't approve this bailout five minutes ago, we're screwed. Those Democrats need to do less amendment-mongering and more bill-passing.
I mean, what can go wrong if we rush unprecedented legislation through Congress in the midst of a national emergency?
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I thought of a great name for the national bank being created by the takeovers of AIG, Fannie, and Freddie: Bank of the United States Treasury. It can be abbreviated to B.U.S.T.
Let's see… we got the internet so Congress reflected and wrote the ECPA. Then, "The 9/11." Knee jerk reaction causing a hernia and The Patriot Act. Market fucked so… HOPE!
CNN.com's headline tonight is "Stocks down on oil, bailout worries." It might as well read, "Stocks down on fears US Taxpayers decide to spit, not swallow."
Remember that Far Side cartoon where the dog is hiding behind the washer and he's drawn arrows pointing into the open dryer on which is printed "Cat Fud", the cat is peering into the dryer looking for the food, and the dog is praying "Oh, please, oh, please"?
So, replace the dog with Wall Street, the cat with the American taxpayer, the dryer with the so-called Bailout, and "Cat Fud" with "stable economy".
GWB: "c'mon people, trust me on this. We know there are WMDs, I mean it could be a nuke-ular disas.., I mean if you want to know why we should do this let me remind you 9/11, 9/11 – are you with me people?"
Paulson sounds like a telemarketer or late night product hawker telling you that you "have to act now", "this deal won't last", etc. I have always been reluctant to buy a pig in a poke and feel the same way about this 700 bailout package for the rich. Hell, if Bush is fully behind the plan, it must be bad for the average American. Dick Chaney must own a lot of worthless mortgages.
"How dare Congress make a power grab on this issue."
Umm.. How dare the Secretary and the President make a grab for power with this crisis??!
Part of the Paulson proposed bailout includes the language, "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
Doesn't that scare you? Doesn't it bother you that someone no one has ever voted for have that much power without any accountability to anyone but the President? If not, then what have they dropped into your water supply, and can I have some?
The middle of national crises caused the the incompetence of the administration is NOT time to quibble over whether the administration should be granted more power! How dare Congress make a power grab on this issue.
Gosh all fish hooks, Hank Paulson would just never, ever like SELL the American taxpayer to Satan, where the American taxpayer's individual and collective souls would burn for all eternity? I mean, just for a lousy $700B. Would he? He's a public servant! Doesn't he have our best interests at heart? Surely he's a compassionate conservative?