A critical – and radical – component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that’s so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one’s hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:
“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.”
In short, the so-called “mother of all bailouts,” which will transfer $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distressed assets of several failed financial institutions, will be conducted in a manner unchallengeable by courts and ungovernable by the People’s duly sworn representatives. All decision-making power will be consolidated into the Executive Branch – who, we remind you, will have the incentive to act upon this privilege as quickly as possible, before they leave office. The measure will run up the budget deficit by a significant amount, with no guarantee of recouping the outlay, and no fundamental means of holding those who fail to do so accountable.
We are taking your money, and don’t dare ask any questions. Could Congress be any more impotent?
Found by Ian Warner
Perhaps it’s time the balance of the G8 make some “suggestions” on how to fix this mess, including the cited language.
Please remember those of us beyond your borders are in this (to differing degrees, to be sure) together.
#30 – “Bush is treating 3/4 of a trillion dollars as if it was petty cash.”
Don’t be sucked into the idea this is somehow “Bush’s idea.” I’ll bet you $100 right now that he went to Paulson and said, “What do we do?” I’m sure he had no idea what to do and didn’t even try to come up with his own plan. He’s just rubber stamping it like the rest of Congress, which is exactly what the problem is.
700B$ = 7700 TON of $100 bills!!
¢
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
Any of you listening to talk radio? Both liberal and conservative hosts are opposed to this thing, its amazing!
Breaking news: AP sez FBI is investigating AIG, Fred/Fannie, Lehman, etc.
This is going to be a GREAT year for no one – except journalists.
How come I’m the only one who noticed that Palin is at the UN same day as the despot Iranian?
Sorry!
700B$ = 77000 TON of $100 bills
&
475 miles tall stack!
¢
Now watch the shitfight as all the greedy mofo neo-con corporate buddies scramble to get a piece of the 700 billion.
How is this anything more than MORE corporate welfare?
So far Sen DeMint is saying No, Newt Gingrich is saying No, and National Review has said No.
Now if some Democrats would get on board and say No, instead of deciding to put their own policies in the package.
#29, no Sea Lawyer is naval jargon. I use it mostly as a joke. I studied economics in college.
If Congress doesn’t strike that sentence it ought to be fired from a cannon.
Of course the person that wrote it never read the Constitution either.
#38 – “How is this anything more than MORE corporate welfare?”
Bingo! No welfare for anyone, corporate, government, or individual. That would be a start.
Why did all the experts and watchdogs wait until the Brokerage Houses had a run on capital? They had to know weeks and months ago this was coming–not in a general sense like they’ve known for years, but in a very real “its happening now” kind of sense.
Seems to me, they decided to wait until the bottom dropped out to make this money grab under the claim of “dire consequences” “act now or the sky will fall (more than it has!)”
I smell great big Bush rat turds. And by Bush==I mean all the big money boys behind him. By turds, I mean the fairytale told to buffalo congress, the media, and us into giving away money to the richest in America and consider ourselves lucky to have avoided something even worse. ((In context, we are still facing the third term of Bush should the constantly erratic shoot from the hip McCain overcome his own party’s record in office.))
I’m going to go medicate with a six pack.
#43 – “((In context, we are still facing the third term of Bush should the constantly erratic shoot from the hip McCain overcome his own party’s record in office.))”
If Paulson and Bernanke are still at it, and Dodd and Frank and the rest of the Congressional retards are still at it, what difference does Obama or McCain make?
Impotent? Can’t you hear the hookers crying?
#44 I don’t buy this ‘they’re all as bad as one another so why not just leave the Republicans in’.
The last 8 years is widely acknowledged as the worst presidency ever and the financial crisis is surely the icing on a truly shitty cake. The Republicans deserve to be booted out. I don’t care if the Dems are in league with Satan himself, I want to see these neo-con criminals and all their crooked associates removed from power
#47 – “‘they’re all as bad as one another so why not just leave the Republicans in’”
So why not try something else entirely? Libertarian, AIP, Green, your neighbor down the street? They are all as bad as one another. The problem is “professional” politicians.
#48 – Totally agree, but get the neo-con criminals out of office first. The only realistic option at this stage is a dose of Obamamania. By realistic I’m recognizing that minor parties don’t have a donuts chance in a police station of getting into office.
For the record I vote Green here in Australia. I find it helps mitigate against my white middle-class guilt.
Ah, section 8. My favorite.
#48 – Jeff-Gib
>>Libertarian, AIP, Green, your neighbor down
>>the street?
OK, You vote libertarian. That will be one fewer vote for McBush.
#47, Bush is widely acknowledged as the worst President ever? By who, you? How about the series of inept Presidents who basically sat around and did nothing as we took the express train to the civil war (we did get southern New Mexico out of Franklin Pierce so not a total loss I guess)? Or how about John Adams, who barely a decade after the Constitution was ratified passed a series of acts, with his Federalist buddies, that were a direct attack on the very freedoms the document was designed to guard? At least we are far enough removed in time, and Americans are compliant enough, that our leaders today can claim ignorance (or worse) about the the intentions behind that piece of paper.
Bush certainly hadn’t done us any favors, but he also hasn’t been the worst of the lot.
The story begins:
“A critical – and radical – component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press.”
Oh, I don’t know — Keith Olbermann hammered on it quite hard on last night’s Countdown…
was talked about plenty on Glen Beck tonight too.
#53 Fair call. My claim is from the perspective of a non American (my knowledge of American history is fairly limited, although i did see the recent John Adams historical drama), and I suppose the words ‘recent memory’ would have been more appropriate.
I cant see history treating him kindly, however. He and his daddy are largely responsible for the world viewing America as a bigger threat to world peace than anyone else.
#56, I’ll certainly agree with you there. This Bush’s belief that he fan go around the world forcing “democracy” has been a complete, and dangerous failure. He went on about it again with his UN speach today.
#53 – Sea L.
>>Bush is widely acknowledged as the worst
>>President ever? By who, you?
By the majority of Americans, and citizens of the world.
Most of us (except maybe McBush) weren’t around when John Adams and Franklin Pierce were in office. And it’s hard to judge the shitty presidents’ impact on the man-on-the-street from history books.
Speaking from personal experience, Dumbya is the worst president since Eisenhower. Bar none. Nixon was like the Second Coming compared to the abortion that Dumbya’s reign has been. Reagan was like having Tickle Me Elmo as president. Nixon was evil but smart; Reagan was good-hearted but stupid. Dumbya gives us the worst of both worlds.
#58 mustard, what are you trying to show? That most Americans are blissfully dumb and their opinions shouldn’t be polled for making any meaningful decision?
The financial crisis is already over, there’s no need for a bailout. The investor panic was sated by the bailout news. Wall Street won’t learn its lesson, watch the stock shoot right back up to 14000 on a fake bubble yet again.
Why have the government subsidize the next stock bubble?
#59 – S-Law
>>mustard, what are you trying to show? That
>>most Americans are blissfully dumb and their
>>opinions shouldn’t be polled for making any
>>meaningful decision?
No, I’m trying to say that what people “know” about presidents from the 18th and 19th century that comes from pop TV shows isn’t the most accurate gauge of how “good” or “bad” a president really was.
If you’ve lived through it, you have some objective basis for evaluation. And comparing Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Pappy Bush, Clinton, and Dumbya, I can unequivocally state that Dumbya ranks 25 on a scale of 1 to 10 for shittiness.
It’s hard to imagine a president worse than him. Even if McBush were to win the election (unlikely), he’s just a shadow of the idiocy perpetrated on the American people.
#34 – EXCELLENT POST!
Seems to me it’s already too late. I remember my dad shoutin’ at a hippie when I was a kid. Something about getting a haircut and that if he didn’t love America he should leave it. Didn’t realize that later in life that’s just what I’d do. Watching from the outside I know I made the right choice. The America I loved as a kid is gone. The society’s sold out their values. There are still a lot of decent places to live if you got the courage to emmigrate. I say screw ’em – sooner or later it’s gonna be like ancient Rome, with a very rich elite dominating a huge number of slaves. So why wait, emmigrate!