Fw: Re: [Peace-discuss] No

[Jenifer Cartwright]

The Dems are demanding millions more to further cover homeowners AND more regulatory oversight and transparency before agreeing. Don't bet the farm...
 --Jenifer 

--- On Sun, 9/21/08, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] No
To: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at illinois.edu>
Cc: "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Date: Sunday, September 21, 2008, 5:10 AM





On Sat, Sep 20, 2008 at 11:05 PM, C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:


  No
  By: emptywheel
  Saturday September 20, 2008 12:16 pm

CR has posted the "bailout plan," as it currently stands:
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/09/bailout-proposal.html

Glenn Greenwald has an important response, as does gjohnsit over at DKos.

But here's all you need to know. Hank Paulson is asking for $700,000,000,000. That's $2,333 from every man, woman, and child in the United States.

It's also only 1,000 times Paulson's personal net worth of $700,000,000, which he "earned" by being a WALL STREET INVESTMENT BANKER not unlike those who helped get our economy into this mess.  (I see the author mentions that below.)  If he and 999 of his similarly-situated buddies would repay the money they essentially stole, then the problem would be solved without involving the rest of us.


 
In exchange for that money, Paulson is unwilling to accept any demands to make markets more transparent, limit executive compensation, or assist homeowners fighting foreclosure. The sole purpose of that $700,000,000,000 is to bail out Wall Street and only Wall Street, but not to fix it, or our larger economy.

He is asking to be absolutely unbound by any law when he spends that money.

 "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."

The only "string" attached is a semi-annual Congressional report -- one in which they would have zero leverage to influence his choices.

 "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."

Paulson didn't even have the class to call this a "review" -- which underscores the degree to which he wants to be unbound by any and all review, legal, congressional, or anything else.

Hank Paulson -- one of the CEOs who got us into this mess -- is asking each and every American to give him $2,333 to do with as he sees fit, with absolutely no strings attached.

No.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss



      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20080921/0cc287dd/attachment.htm