So, the bill did NOT have this?

[WA98296]

1. The bailout bill had NO enforcement provisions for the so-called oversight group that was going to monitor Wall Street's spending of the $700 billion;

2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;

3. It did NOTHING to force banks and lenders to rewrite people's mortgages to avoid foreclosures -- this bill would not have stopped ONE foreclosure!;

4. It had NO teeth anywhere in the entire piece of legislation, using words like "suggested" when referring to the government being paid back for the bailout;

5. Over 200 economists wrote to Congress and said this bill might actually WORSEN the "financial crisis" and cause even MORE of a meltdown.


Thanks, Michael Moore, for pointing this out.

[gopbuster]

1. "2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment"

2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;


If they steal the peoples money I would assume there are other laws on the books that would protect the taxpayer

[Phred42]

10. Well, you know what happens when you ASSUME

[moodforaday]

11. That was my firrst thought too, but

it would not be considered stealing. Whatever Paulson did would be in compliance with the wording of the bill. Oversight means nothing if you are allowed to know what's being done but have no way to control it.

[Cronus Protagonist]

18. They claimed an exemption from that, AND the Constituton itself!

Why would they allow any laws to apply when they can brush them off?

[Graybeard]

2. These omissions must be addressed in new bill.

I hear talk of reintroducing the same bill for a re-vote. WTF? These flaws were not accidental or due to negligence. Dems must write a stronger more specific bill with all of these changes.

[populistdriven]

5. Do we need a NO REVOTE campaign?

[scarletwoman]

16. Oh, most definitely! This bill needs to die. They need to start from scratch on something

completely different.

sw

[MindMatter]

8. They should start from scratch with a whole new approach

Something like this:

1) $100Bn for Paulson to use to buy equity into companies that are distressed with toxic assets. That will get him started. If that produces benefits, he can come back to Congress for more.

2) Strict controls on CEO pay for any company that takes any of that $100Bm.

3) Allow bankruptcy courts to renegotiate terms of delinquent mortgages. That is the fastest way to clean up the existing mess and also to discourage banks from making these crappy loans the next time.

4) $250 Bn for infrastructure projects (bridges, flood control, etc). This will produce IMMEDIATE jobs with a great financial multiplier. Rebuild the economy from the ground up.

5) Another $250 Bn in selective investments in key industries that have a future in our economy. Battery technology for the auto industry, for example. Industries that actually hire people to make things that people actually buy. We don't need to send $700 bn to companies whose only contribution to the economy is the Brooks Brothers suits they buy.

Put this bill forward and dare the Republicans to vote against it and dare Bush to veto it. We know the GOP won't go along, and that is when Obama makes his final case to the American people. "Here you see the people who are the problem. If you want to fix the problem, you have to vote them out of office."

[chill_wind]

3. K & R. n/t

[galileoreloaded]

4. Lack of regulation is the way it works.....I am anti-bailout, but....

the ONLY way a plan like this works, is if it is a big fire hose, otherwise, only the worst off banks participate, and the worst assets hit the .gov books. Banks that have a choice, don't show up. Make it broad based, and everybody comes to the party and clears the logjam.
Won't matter though, and I posted some charts to show why..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4129331&mesg_id=4129331

[pleah]

6. It was a blank check filled with empty words. n/t

[MindMatter]

7. Absolutely right

It was 110 pages of fluffy bullshit that politicians could point to to say they were looking out for the taxpayer. But none of it had any teeth. Not that Bush adheres to any laws anyway -- he just dismisses our laws with signing statements -- but this one just had only recommendations, not requirements.

This thing deserved to die.

[ContinentalOp]

14. Bbbbut... it went from 3 pages to 110 PAGES!

Surely that must mean it was better. :shrug:

[LBJDemocrat]

15. Filled with vague language.

Obama should be ashamed.

As Dennis Kucinich has said, "Is this the US Congress, or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?"

[annabanana]

9. Arm the SEC!!

Lets beef up the enforcement big time and let the apppropriate heads roll!

[gratuitous]

12. It's not like this "crisis" will be resolved in one fell swoop

So why not take a few extra days and come up with a plan that will identify the problems, aim to fix those problems, and hold folks accountable for doing their jobs. I advocate for this rather than the current "Quick! Throw some (a whole lot of) money at the problem and see how (if) that works out!" scheme.

[IronLionZion]

13. Summary and full text of the bill

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was a proposed amendment to the bill H.R. 3997, introduced to the United States House of Representatives, and subsequently voted on by the House on September 29, 2008.<1> The bill was defeated by a 228-205 vote, with one Representative not voting.<2>


Contents


* 1 Text of the official summary of proposed 106-page bill: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act <3>
o 1.1 Text of Paragraph: Stabilizing the Economy
o 1.2 Text of Paragraph: Homeownership Preservation
o 1.3 Text of Paragraph: Taxpayer Protection
o 1.4 Text of Paragraph: No Windfalls for Executives
o 1.5 Text of Paragraph: Strong Oversight
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

Text of the official summary of proposed 106-page bill: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act <3>

Text of Paragraph: Stabilizing the Economy

"The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) provides up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy mortgages and other assets that are clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions and making it difficult for working families, small businesses, and other companies to access credit, which is vital to a strong and stable economy. EESA also establishes a program that would allow companies to insure their troubled assets."

Text of Paragraph: Homeownership Preservation

"EESA requires the Treasury to modify troubled loans - many the result of fraudelent and low doc/no doc applications - wherever possible to help American families keep their homes. It also directs other federal agencies to modify loans that they own or control. Finally, it improves the HOPE for Homeowners program by expanding eligibility and increasing the tools available to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help more families keep their homes."

Text of Paragraph: Taxpayer Protection

"Taxpayers should not be expected to pay for Wall Street's mistakes. The legislation requires companies that sell some of their bad assets to the government to provide warrants so that taxpayers will benefit from any future growth these companies may experience as a result of participation in this program. The legislation also requires the President to submit legislation that would cover any losses to taxpayers resulting from this program by charging a small, broad-based fee on all financial institutions."

Text of Paragraph: No Windfalls for Executives

"Executives who made bad decisions should not be allowed to dump their bad assets on the government, and then walk away with millions of dollars in bonuses. In order to participate in this program, companies will lose certain tax benefits and, in some cases, must limit executive pay. In addition, the bill limits 'golden parachutes' and requires that unearned bonuses be returned."

Text of Paragraph: Strong Oversight

"Rather than giving the Treasury all the funds at once, the legislation gives the Treasury $250 billion immediately, then requires the President to certify that additional funds are needed ($100 billion, then $350 billion subject to Congressional disapproval). The Treasury must report on the use of the funds and the progress in addressing the crisis. EESA also establishes an Oversight Board so that the Treasury cannot act in an arbitrary manner. It also establishes a special inspector general to protect against waste, fraud and abuse."

summary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_2008

full text
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:H.R.3997:


I'm just providing the unbiased info here, not my recommendations or opinions.

[snot]

17. Also NO re-regulation, as far as I've heard --

e.g., nothing about restoring Glass-Steagall or the uptick rule.