Secretary Henry Paulson is rushing Congress into passing his new mortgage bailout relief program that would essentially give Paulson $700 billion to spend as he sees fits without consequences. Congress, however, has its skeptics on passing such a large bailout that would put American taxpayers on the hook if it fails.
It is clear that the U.S. financial markets are in turmoil and have been so for some time now. The issue that we are facing now is how to correct the financial market with little impact on the U.S. taxpayer and the U.S. national deficit. Secretary Henry Paulson believes he is the man for the job, but only if he has immunity from any legal actions that may come forth in his efforts.
In his recent $700 billion mortgage bailout bill the Secretary will have the authority to purchase mortgage related assets from U.S. financial institutions as he deems necessary and put the financial responsibility on the U.S. taxpayer if the mortgage assets go into default.
The bill also bars any court of law or any administrative agency from reviewing actions made by the Secretary. All decisions will be based on Secretary Paulson’s and his agencies discretion. Reports on the bill will be made available to Congress 3 months after the first exercise and semiannually thereafter.
Senator Christopher Dodd struck back at Paulson’s mortgage bailout bill stating that it needs more oversight and that Paulson should be held responsible in accordance with the law.
Senator Dodd proposed an Emergency Oversight Board that would oversee the bailout along with Secretary Paulson. The board would consist of the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, chairperson of the Board of Directors of the FDIC, chairperson of the SEC, and two non-governmental employees who have appropriate financial expertise in both the public and private sectors.
Dodd calls for the Emergency Oversight Board to meet every other week and report to Congress once a month. Also, Dodd wants the public to be informed on a weekly basis the total value of assets held and the total amount of assets purchased and sold during that week.
Source: Future Planning Financial
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
