The New York Times has posted a draft copy of the U.S. Treasury bail out bill.
As a practical matter, this bill gives the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury – the former chairman of one of the Wall Street firms most instrumental in creating the current financial “problem” (or opportunity, depending on whose team you are on) – the power to spend or donate $700 billion in whatever manner he chooses and to pay whomever he wants as much as he wants on whatever terms and conditions he wants to help him do so and give them access to any information he wants. Those who help are free to use that information without liability for any responsibilities related to governmental access.
As a subtext, watch what happens as investment banks with losing derivatives portfolios merge with banks that have deposits covered by FDIC insurance. Small savers are funding a second bailout behind the scenes, confident they are protected by deposit insurance. Small investors too. On Friday, while the large players could execute trades to cover their short positions following the ban on short selling of financial stocks, small investors were frozen out of the system. The explanation was a backlog of trades from the day before.
We are republishing the language here in its entirety. I have boldfaced Section 8 as I want to make sure you seriously contemplate it’s meaning.
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS
Section 1. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as ____________________.
Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.
(a) Authority to Purchase.–The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.
(b) Necessary Actions.–The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:
(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;
(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;
(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;
(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and
(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.
Sec. 3. Considerations.
In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for–
(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and
(2) protecting the taxpayer.
Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.
Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.
Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.
(a) Exercise of Rights.–The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.
(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.
(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.
(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.–The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.
Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.
The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time
Sec. 7. Funding.
For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.
Sec. 8. Review.
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.
Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.
The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.
Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.
Sec. 11. Credit Reform.
The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.
Sec. 12. Definitions.
For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.–The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.
(2) Secretary.–The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.
(3) United States.–The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.
The reason the economy is in such a mess is because of the poor and greedy decisions to give mortgages to those who could not possibly meet their mortgage payments. Bailing out the people and institutions that caused this is NOT an option in my mind. Why can’t we help those who are in danger of loosing their homes? Rework these loans and make it possible for those people to keep their homes and continue to pay their mortgages. This way the banks and other lending institutions will continue to get the payments and the economy will survive. Start from the bottom up NOT the top down because trickle down economics has NEVER worked and this will not work either. I resent the fact that I have to foot the bill for this greedy blunder.
I am 62 years old, lost my job in January and cannot find one that pays me enough to live and save as before. I have watched my retirement money (IRA & Annuity) decrease since 9/11. I will never recoup my loses. I have always lived on a budget and am now forced to make that budget even tighter. I no longer have money to put into savings because I need every penny to live and pay my mortgage and taxes, which by the way I have always paid and on time. I do not live beyond my means and my credit rating is 825.
Now because of greed on the part of those who caused this crisis, I am being forced to foot the bill. I would love to refuse to pay any taxes until our leaders show they can manage money as well as I can. Congress better wake up and realize that it is the working American public that pay their salaries (which are way too high) and pay for the running of this country. Cut out all the fat in government, the kickbacks, the perks, the lavish lifestyles and start taking care of those who take care of the country. If they don’t there just might be another “tea party” and I for one will be there right in front.
I DO NOT SUPPORT THIS BILL OR THIS TYPE OF BAIL OUT AND I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT DOES.
Lunatics, lunatics, lunatics all, united we stand divided we fall. We are a divided a divided people of a divided country, in a divided world. Need I say more?
What is wrong with America where did all the good people go . Everyone is a crook getting kickbacks on their kickbacks and noone cares about anyone else. The disfunctional morality of this nation has corrupted so badly it is taking Wall Street down with it . Its a sad day when this country cant even get out of its own way be cause of lawmakers and politics . This country wasent fought so bravely for so a select few can take advantage of the majority , we are in a sad state here in 08 and both these so called candidates are no good for this country . God help us.
Two items right off the top. 1. I am the Person that was lucky enough to talk to Catherine when She was on Coast a Week or two ago. and 2. Right now I do not have a working WEB Site right now! So you now know my Tech. ability.
If you heard Coast that night or Morning, I am sure you have some idea as to my desperation in trying to get someone from the Gov’t. read my proposal but at least acknowledge that I exist. I am not a Shadow Person or a figment of Peoples imagination, I am real and through the use of Proprietary Software, addition and subtraction and yes, common sense, I have come up with a way to put an end to this Foreclosure situation for the People involved (the people who have received these loans. I think that is the bottom line here, help the people? Seems to me that if the People pay their loans back there will be no need for all these “Lending Institutions” to receive a lot of BLACK INK from our over used Government and the House and Senate that are full of the poor worried “Investors” or OWNERS of these lending Institutions who suffer from these huge losses but still, because of their Patriotic dedication to this Country, have had to set these traumatic happenings aside and take care of, yes, the pain in the necks of this Wonderful Country, it’s Citizens!
On the serious side, I do need help, I need it VERY soon and I need it badly. I know what every Red Blooded Business Person is thinking. “Of course he needs help fast, X Mass is right around the corner and he wants money to go shopping with”. After all, I will be rich beyond my wildest dreams if I can pull this one off.
Lets get this over with fast! I love this Country to a fault! I love the Blacks, the Whites the Browns the Reds, the Jews the Islamists the Browns and yes, even the Sasquatch, who’s Name slips my mind right now. I love everything and everyone in this Country. One thing I hate to admit to is that I can count on one hand the Politicians we now have that could not wait to “Change” things for us. Maybe that is my problem, they have changed so very much “for us” that our Country is now being run by People still wet and dehydrated from crossing miles of Desert so they can work hard and raise their Families here, right after we make this Country look like, run like, smell like, with the same rules and Customs a long with the same laws as the Country they could not wait to get out of!
Enough Mike, shut your mouth and get to the problem at hand, or did you?
Like I was saying, I have a system that individuals will have the opportunity to get themselves out of this Mess themselves, why? Because they want to! They don’t want Nancy Pillowsi to “Bail them out! Americans, for the most part still have one very dear, sacred and important thing that they all hold dear. They will take care of their Families. They will protect, provide for and show their Son’s, Daughters and Grandchildren the single most important job that heads of House holds have had since the beginning of time, the Responsibility of their Families is THEIR JOB AND NO ELSES JOB! Fellow Americans, if we take that away from them we will have destroyed the very fiber that this Country has survived as a result of and the reason we now call ourselves Americans with pride and for most of us, a tear of pride in their eye.
All that stuff I just talked about is why my Programs have to and will work. Again, is it for me to make a lot of Money? I am giving the majority of what I make back to our Brother’s and Sister’s. Why? Is it because I want to show everyone what a great guy I am? I want people to like me? No! I want the Children of these people to stay warm this Winter. A Winter where, even though our Friends in the Middle East love and want to help us for some reason some of our Babies are going to be cold this year. Some of our Mom’s and Dad’s and Gramps and Grammies will even die, no matter how hard our Friends try to help us. Ladies and Gentlemen, I never thought I would see the day when the strongest Nation on this Planet put our President in a position where he had to beg those people for more oil. A United States Pres. cared so much about us that he DID that for us, NO, HE WAS MADE TO TO THAT FOR US AND HE DID IT FOR US!!!
I am going to take a break now and then I will beg you to help me to get those Politicians to allow us to help our own Families, they have, I have, and I am sure you have swallowed your pride for the LAST TIME!
The Group that I am a part of is a Financial Group that is designed to help people get out of debt quickly. We also have them out of debt including their Mortgages, in around 10 years, each case is different. We have eight programs, at least two can be modified, with the cooperation of the Bank, to pay their loans off fast and to lower their total payment. If you go to http://www.usadebtfree.info you will see the programs I am talking about.
It is an easy fix to change these programs to stop people that are on their way to foreclosure. If anyone is interested in how we can do this please contact me or if you know how I can get someone in the Gov’t. please let me know. The Economy and the American people need our help. Even if their is a very large Investor out there we can save many people and you would make a profit.
Help as soon as you can. I want to get this done soon, I have Cancer and am in remission but I do not know how long that will last, so please, lets help each other.
Michael OReilly
Cptdes2000@yahoo.com
@Susan J “Greg writes we can ‘still protest’… having seen a million people [protest] in NYC before the Iraq war …I don’t think protesting has worked.”
Dear Susan: Exactly, except I wrote “we can still protest all we want”. The goal is to maintain a facade of democracy.
Note: I have had personal experience with the secret police(s) (plural is more accurate) here–somewhat like Catherine’s experience. These pros were careful not to leave evidence. About $3 billion fraud [scientific] was on top the table. A goal was to help pass NAFTA. The fraud was complemented by the National Academy of Science. Its fallacious review pointedly exposed in a widely-read scientific journal. Little was done. Same administration as Catherine’s. The paper’s author (and the paper) has been disappeared from the scene and a number of good people marginalized. They are afraid (and unorganized).
I was recently emailed the following Bloomberg article titled “How The Democrats created The Financial Crisis”. Not being an economist or partisan, and having a pretty good idea how the “two” parties are joined at the hip at the top of the heap, I was a bit sceptical that this mess was firstly the fault of only 1 party and secondly that it was not possibly INTENTIONAL for someone to profit BIG TIME while others lost. Can anyone explain in laymens terms who is the MOST responsible, who are the winners if any and is the article simply a myopic hit piece?
Thanks
Link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0
Senator Dodd makes me puke. His comments to George Steponopolis that he could not disclose the details of his meeting with Secretary Paulson to the media or the American Taxpayer is absolutely stupid! We grunts that go to work everyday and will have to pay this massive for this massive corruption are not even entitled to a detailed explanation of the problem. This democrat will vote republican just to strike back at the jack-ass U.S. Sentors. I have lost complete respect for the institiion. US Senators can go to hell!!