Proposed $700B Bailout Plan - Yay, lets shove more fascism down America's throat!

[SIG_Fiend]

Here's the legal text I was able to find of the $700 billion bailout plan proposed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson:

Calculated Risk: Bailout Proposal

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.

In case you missed that, I'll paste this again:

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.

That should have all of us incredibly afraid. So basically they are stating quite blatantly that, if the bill passes, they will do whatever they want with $700 BILLION of OUR dollars and none of the decisions can be reviewed, questioned, and/or no court or agency can have any oversight or jurisdiction to act should any of said decisions be decidedly unethical or unconstitutional. Discuss.

 

[Code3GT]

YOWZERS Scoob!

 

[Major Woody]

This basically a Financial Patriot Act. 700 bil to 1 trillion won't even touch this mess. The govt allow the speculators to do this, then the FBI busts them, takes their assets and they come out looking like the saviors, when they caused it. Them boys are robbing the treasury before they split town. Get a rope.

 

[Hoji]

Well, most of you did vote for these clownsYou get the government you deserve.

 

[Major Woody]

Not me, I voted for Ron Paul, and will not vote for the lesser of two evils. A vote for principal is never wasted.

 

[JKTex]

Well, most of you did vote for these clownsYou get the government you deserve.

Enlightening......


Moving on....and now the GD Dem's and Rep's are playing campaign games and have the "deal" either dead or in limbo....while the feds are stealing from stockholders and giving WAMU's good assets to JP Morgan Chase and wiped out the all equity holders. I feel lucky not to have lost as much as one guy, $200k gone tonight after normal market hours closed.

Wall Street and Washington together does not work.

 

[Code3GT]

good thing i'm young and my IRA only has $4k in it LOL

 

[Cyfer]

Interesting email I received today:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Subject: Interesting Alternative Approach to the Current Economic Crisis

First let me say I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We
Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide
U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and
child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends
$25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A
husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay
off your mortgage – housing crisis solved. Repay college loans – what
a great boost to new grads Put away money for college – it'll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car
– create jobs Invest in the market – capital drives growth Pay for
your parent's medical insurance – health care improves Enable Deadbeat
Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is
cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of
trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that
is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every
adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go
back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the
private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in
Washington DC.
And remember, This plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because
$25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam."
--------------------------------------------------------------------


Will never happen, I know, but just what if... ??

 

[JKTex]

good thing i'm young and my IRA only has $4k in it LOL

It did?

 

[Major Woody]

That's what I've been saying all along. But they realize we would also buy guns and ammo and fund better politicians to replace their sorry a$$es. Got to www.FireCongress.org. Print up the pink slip and send it by letter or e-mail