{"id":2136,"date":"2008-10-02T07:36:05","date_gmt":"2008-10-02T13:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sequence-inc.com\/fraudfiles\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2010-06-12T22:01:58","modified_gmt":"2010-06-13T04:01:58","slug":"the-700-billion-bailout-should-fail-on-its-own-merits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/the-700-billion-bailout-should-fail-on-its-own-merits\/","title":{"rendered":"The $700 billion bailout should fail on its own merits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>..not be passed through because of other legislation that the taxpayers deserve to have <strong>regardless<\/strong> of whether it&#8217;s attached to to bailout.<\/p>\n<p>This $700 billion (probably more like $1 trillion or $2 trillion) bailout that was passed by the Senate last night is really no better than what the House voted against just a couple of days ago. But lawmakers are sure they&#8217;ve sweetened the deal enough to get the House to vote in favor of it.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Some of the provisions of the current nonsense the taxpayers will have to pay for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Authorize $700 billion for the government to purchase troubled assets and buy equity in distressed financial firms.<\/li>\n<li>Require the Treasury Department to make rules to prevent excessive compensation for executives whose companies benefit from the rescue, and to cap deductibility of executives&#8217; pay packages at $500,000 for firms that get $300 million or more from the program.<\/li>\n<li>Establish an oversight board for the program, an investigator general to monitor it and regular government audits.<\/li>\n<li>Require that the president establish a plan to recoup the cost from the financial industry if, after five years, there are any losses.<\/li>\n<li>Phase in the money for buying troubled assets, with $250 billion available immediately, $100 billion to be released if the president certifies it is needed, and the last $350 billion available with another certification, but subject to a congressional vote.<\/li>\n<li>Provide business tax breaks, including for production of, investment in, and use of renewable fuels.<\/li>\n<li>Increase personal credits against the alternative minimum tax, shielding more than 20 million taxpayers.<\/li>\n<li>Grant tax relief to victims of natural disasters in the Midwest and elsewhere.<\/li>\n<li>Extend through 2011 a program that funds rural schools and local governments that have low property-tax bases because they are within or adjacent to federal lands.<\/li>\n<li>Extend through 2009 the deduction for state and local general sales taxes.<\/li>\n<li>Extend through 2009 individual tax breaks, including deductions for higher-education costs and teachers&#8217; personal expenses.<\/li>\n<li>Increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, the limit on federal bank deposit insurance. The limit would revert to $100,000 at the end of 2009 unless Congress extends it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Where do I begin? It&#8217;s too expensive and taxpayers shouldn&#8217;t have to fund it. Let the market work. If the assets are worth pennies on the dollar on the open market, the banks will just have to hold them or sell them for that price. The government shouldn&#8217;t swoop in an overpay for sketchy assets.<\/p>\n<p>And this provision that supposedly disallows golden parachutes to executives? Someone define excessive, please.<\/p>\n<p>The oversight board is worthless: A part-time board that meets once a month to take a peek at how hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent? I don&#8217;t think so.<\/p>\n<p>Recover the cost from the financial industry? Who are we kidding? This will be handout, plain and simple. And more handouts will follow because our government is setting a bad precedent.<\/p>\n<p>And the tax provisions for individuals? In general, those are good provisions that should be given to American taxpayers without tying them to this horrible legislation. The AMT no longer makes sense. Certain costs should be tax deductible. Don&#8217;t tie these things to the passage of a bad bill!!!<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t believe all the &#8220;sky is falling&#8221; hype. We taxpayers should not have fund a bailout for the irresponsibility of others. The people who lied on their mortgages and the investment banks who packaged and sold these bad mortgages are to blame. And I simply don&#8217;t want to pay for it.<\/p>\n<p>Armageddon is not coming, and taxpayers need to speak out against this. The market needs to work it out by itself. I promise you that it will be much less painful and more swift that way. This bailout only prolongs the pain, is nothing but a bandaid, sets a precedent for future bailouts, doesn&#8217;t force those who created the problem to live with their mistakes, and is flat out going to cheat taxpayers out of their hard-earned money.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a sampling of comments from lawmakers who voted against this bill (Thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailyconservative.net\/2008\/10\/02\/the-senators-that-said-no-and-why\/\">The Daily Conservative<\/a> for assembling these comments.):<\/p>\n<p><strong>Allard (R-CO) <\/strong><a title=\"ALLARD STATEMENT ON EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT VOTE  \" href=\"http:\/\/allard.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&amp;PressRelease_id=a7645969-fde3-4361-bee9-b531320f6b85\">Full Comment<\/a><strong>.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIn considering proposals to stabilize the economy, taxpayers have always been my top priority,\u201d said Allard. \u201cIn creating this $700 billion package, Congress held no hearings, nor did it use a process to provide a reasonable assurance that this proposal would even work. I am unwilling to leave a huge legacy of debt for generations to come without confidence that it would be worth the price.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Barrasso (R-WY)<\/strong> <a title=\"Senator Barrasso Votes No\" href=\"http:\/\/barrasso.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=bb40d89d-ba19-c104-fc0f-65cada9d1f20\">Full Comment<\/a>.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAs I have said from the beginning of this debate, providing a $700 billion rescue package to our financial institutions is a significant risk to taxpayers. Any government assistance must protect taxpayers &#8211; not reward failure.<\/p>\n<p>This rescue package did not meet my three core principals &#8211; accountability, oversight and taxpayer protection.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Brownback (R-KS) <\/strong><a title=\"Brownback to Vote Against Bail-out Bill \" href=\"http:\/\/brownback.senate.gov\/pressapp\/record.cfm?id=303969\">Full Comment<\/a>.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cCongress needs time to get this right. A rushed $700 billion bailout package is unlikely to produce the long-term results we need. Plus, $700 billion is a lot of money. You could buy all the farm land in the top 16 agricultural producing states in America with that amount of money. Or it could buy 4.4 million Americans a home at the median price in Kansas.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Bunning (R-KY) <\/strong><a title=\"Bunning To Vote Against Bailout Bill\" href=\"http:\/\/bunning.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsCenter.NewsReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=ba53250b-fbd3-3ecd-52d1-e2cc95b25d0b\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSince Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson first came to Congress with this plan I have opposed it,\u201d said Bunning. \u201cAnd while some of the language and the length of this bill may have changed in the last week, it is still the same old bailout for Wall Street with a few extra sweeteners intended to buy off votes. In the end, this bill still puts the taxpayers on the hook for Wall Street\u2019s losses and takes America\u2019s free market system down the path towards socialism. I cannot and will not support that.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Cantwell (D-WA) <\/strong><a title=\"Press Release of Senator Cantwell\" href=\"http:\/\/cantwell.senate.gov\/news\/record.cfm?id=303998\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAnd while I put my full support behind these tax relief measures, I believe that bold action is needed to solve our current financial crisis. I am just not for this action. I am in favor of putting the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government behind solving this financial crisis, but I do not support turning the keys of the U.S. Treasury over to the private sector. I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s the government\u2019s job to pick winners and losers in corporate America.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Cochran (R-MS)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>No official comment has been released as of yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Crapo (R-ID) <\/strong><a title=\"CRAPO: FINANCIAL RESCUE PACKAGE DOESN'T ADEQUATELY PROTECT TAXPAYERS \" href=\"http:\/\/crapo.senate.gov\/media\/newsreleases\/release_full.cfm?id=303986\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI voted no because I am not convinced that the Administration\u2019s proposal in its current form is the right solution, that taxpayers were protected,\u201d Crapo explained following the vote this evening. \u201cThis is not to diminish the serious and real threat that faces our financial markets and economy. To be certain, there is a substantial threat that must be dealt with, but this proposal requires the taxpayer to assume the majority of the risk. The taxpayers must be protected if this solution doesn\u2019t work out, and should be the last to take a financial loss. However, after much review and evaluation, I concluded that this proposal fails the fairness test and left the taxpayers with too much risk.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>DeMint (R-SC)<\/strong> <a title=\"DeMint Explains Opposition to Bailout\" href=\"http:\/\/demint.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=JimsJournal.Detail&amp;Blog_ID=ba941c40-dcc0-914f-7353-82ff38b75c53\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"320\" height=\"210\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/blip.tv\/play\/xh3QxHmKwR8\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dole (R-NC) <\/strong><a title=\"DOLE: CONGRESS MUST DELIVER A MARKET-BASED SOLUTION, NOT A GOVERNMENT BAILOUT  \" href=\"http:\/\/dole.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&amp;PressRelease_id=08dcfd07-9a25-4fef-9fa1-8321c933f18a\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAction is clearly needed to return stability to our financial markets, but most importantly, effective, sound action is needed. To fix the markets, we must deliver a market-based solution, not a government bailout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of unrelated spending additions, this bill now comes at a cost of over $800 billion, and it is still a government takeover of our economy with no protection for taxpayers. It raises the debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion. It bails out foreign investors before American homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages. And it does nothing to address the root cause of this mess, the housing crisis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Dorgan (D-ND)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>No official comment has been released as of yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Enzi (R-WY) <\/strong><a title=\"Enzi: financial rescue plan falls short\" href=\"http:\/\/enzi.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.NewsReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=bb3b6857-802a-23ad-495b-715c6dc7ef90\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cUltimately, I do not believe this is the best solution for our economy or the taxpayer. Something does need to be done to save our economy, but this package is just a very costly band-aid for big banks that will do very little to help patients who needs major surgery.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Feingold (D-WI)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>No official comment has been released as of yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Inhofe (R-OK) <\/strong><a title=\"Inhofe Says Bailout Plan Must Be Improved for American Taxpayers \" href=\"http:\/\/inhofe.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=bb4905b6-802a-23ad-4743-bc131926f503\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAfter examining the issue very closely and spending time with constituents, local business leaders, and elected officials, I felt compelled to vote against Secretary Paulson\u2019s proposal,\u201d Senator Inhofe said. \u201cAs we work to address the financial situation in a timely way, Congressional leaders must be mindful that such a massive proposal needs to have the support of the American people. It is the American taxpayer, after all, who is being asked foot the bill for this bailout. Constituents and business leaders here in Oklahoma continue to tell me they are hesitant to pay for mistakes made by others. Those concerns are valid, and its Congress\u2019s duty to find a solution that takes them into account.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Johnson (D-SD) <\/strong><a title=\" Johnson to Vote Against Economic Rescue Package  \" href=\"http:\/\/johnson.senate.gov\/newsroom\/record.cfm?id=303967&amp;\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHowever, despite the fact that this proposal has merits, I continue to have concerns that it lacks the necessary protections to fix the abuses that caused this problem, provides little direct assistance to American families, does not go far enough to cut the golden parachutes of irresponsible CEO\u2019s, and does not do enough to address American tax dollars benefiting foreign banks.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Landrieu (D-LA) <\/strong><a title=\"Landrieu Votes 'No' on Financial Bailout\" href=\"http:\/\/landrieu.senate.gov\/farmers\/index.cfm\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cUnfortunately, it appears that an influx of taxpayer money will ultimately need to be a part of any attempt to stabilize and restore faith in our financial sector. However, if the people of Louisiana have learned anything in the last several years, it is that simply throwing money at a disaster doesn\u2019t fix the problem unless paired with wise reforms to the practices that failed us.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Nelson (D-FL) <\/strong><a title=\"U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's speech on the bailout vote \" href=\"http:\/\/www.billnelson.senate.gov\/news\/details.cfm?id=303968&amp;\">Full Comment<\/a>. (Sorry about the caps. That\u2019s how it was on the site.)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMADAM PRESIDENT, I CAN SAY A LOT ABOUT THIS, BUT LET ME JUST SAY THAT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT ULTIMATELY THIS BILL FORCES TAXPAYERS TO BAILOUT INVESTMENT BANKS THAT CAUSED THE CRISIS IN THE FIRST PLACE AND IT DOES NOTHING TO ADDRESS THE REAL PROBLEM WHICH IS HOME FORECLOSURES AND A RESUSCITATION BACK TO LIFE OF THE HOUSING MARKET. AND UNTIL WE STOP THE RECORD LEVEL OF FORECLOSURES, THIS CRISIS IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORSEN WHETHER WE PASS THIS BILL OR NOT.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Roberts (R-KS) <\/strong><a title=\"Senator Roberts Issues Statement on Economic Rescue Plan\" href=\"http:\/\/roberts.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=ba3d67ff-802a-23ad-4f91-1dcb831c0e25\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHowever, Kansans &#8211; by the thousands &#8211; have made clear to me that the financial plan currently before the Congress is not acceptable. I agree. It is not clear this plan will get the job done.<\/p>\n<p>The plan permits taxpayer dollars to be used to buy assets of foreign financial institutions that have a presence in the United States. If U.S. taxpayer dollars are going to be put at risk, those dollars should be used to shore up U.S. based companies.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Sanders (I-VT) <\/strong><a title=\"Wall Street Bailout\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sanders.senate.gov\/news\/record.cfm?id=303980\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThis country faces many serious problems in the financial market, in the stock market, in our economy. We must act, but we must act in a way that improves the situation. We can do better than the legislation now before Congress.<\/p>\n<p>This bill does not effectively address the issue of what the taxpayers of our country will actually own after they invest hundreds of billions of dollars in toxic assets. This bill does not effectively address the issue of oversight because the oversight board members have all been hand picked by the Bush administration. This bill does not effectively deal with the issue of foreclosures and addressing that very serious issue, which is impacting millions of low- and moderate-income Americans in the aggressive, effective way that we should be. This bill does not effectively deal with the issue of executive compensation and golden parachutes. Under this bill, the CEOs and the Wall Street insiders will still, with a little bit of imagination, continue to make out like bandits.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Sessions (R-AL)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>No official comment has been released as of yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Shelby (R-AL)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>No official comment has been released as of yet. I see a trend here in Alabama.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stabenow (D-MI) <\/strong><a title=\"Stabenow Statement on Current Financial Crisis \" href=\"http:\/\/stabenow.senate.gov\/\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI opposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 because it is fundamentally the wrong approach to fixing our economy. We need to start from the root of the problem &#8211; helping families stay in their homes and keep their jobs. While I\u2019m glad it included alternative energy provisions that I championed as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, it did not do enough for the people of Michigan, and so I could not, in good conscience, support this bill. I will continue my work in the Senate to ensure that we remain focused on legislation that creates jobs and puts American families first.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Tester (D-MT) <\/strong><a title=\"Tester: Government\u2019s bailout plan doesn\u2019t smell right  \" href=\"http:\/\/tester.senate.gov\/Newsroom\/pr_092308_bailout.cfm\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cLike most Montanans, I\u2019ve got a heck of a lot of concerns about this,\u201d Tester said after the hearing. \u201cI want to know that this legislation fixes the root problems, so we\u2019re not doing this year after year. I want to know that no CEOs are getting big paychecks for running their companies into the ground. And I want to make sure that Main Street not just Wall Street is helped.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Vitter (R-LA) <\/strong><a title=\"Vitter Issues Statement on Bailout Package\" href=\"http:\/\/vitter.senate.gov\/?module=pressroom\/pressitem&amp;ID=fd478522-ec6b-4103-8408-c90e0086f18d\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFirst, it\u2019s an unprecedented government bailout that will almost certainly pave the way for even more &#8211; maybe sooner rather than later.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Wicker (R-MS) <\/strong><a title=\"Wicker Opposes Financial Bailout Legislation\" href=\"http:\/\/wicker.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=ba2805c2-0ff7-a220-cf11-35d5aa9f71d3\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe proposal being brought to the Senate floor tonight is an improvement from the initial Paulson plan. But at its core, this is still the same plan that calls on taxpayers to go $700 billion further into debt in an attempt to fix this problem, while doing absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening again. I have strong philosophical differences with this approach, and I will not vote to support it.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Wyden (D-OR) <\/strong><a title=\" Wyden Statement on Financial Bailout Package  \" href=\"http:\/\/wyden.senate.gov\/newsroom\/record.cfm?id=303984&amp;\">Full Comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNow, in 2008, we have been rushed into voting on a package that would spend $700 billion in a far shorter period of time to address the credit crisis that threatens our markets. In my judgment, the bill we are considering tonight leaves far too many questions unanswered, and misses the mark in addressing both the causes and potential cures for the current crisis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst, the bailout package provides help to large institutional investors who took foolish risks. Rather than extending assistance to get credit flowing at appropriate levels again to shore up confidence in our markets, it is likely that much of this money will go to those who don\u2019t deserve a taxpayer bailout for their miscalculations. Wealthy investors, who ought to know better, shouldn\u2019t be allowed to gamble with taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>..not be passed through because of other legislation that the taxpayers deserve to have regardless of whether it&#8217;s attached to to bailout. This $700 billion (probably more like $1 trillion or $2 trillion) bailout that was passed by the Senate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fraud-news-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Z0e-ys","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}