Text: The Senate bailout bill, all 451 pages

Here it is, back by unpopular demand: the 451-page Senate bailout bill, the one Sen. John McCain wants to call a "rescue."

The Senate votes tonight, I'll use the blog to keep a running update of the day's events.

--Peter Viles

Comments

[MarkSLindsey]

It's up to a mid-size novel... what was its original length, about 11 pages?

[Nick]

I ray of humor in this otherwise dismal disaster of anti-American garbage:

The oversight board for the bailout program is comprised of the heads of the Fed, the Treasury, the FHA, the SEC, and the HUD. It's a veritable who's-who of the prime culprits for the housing bubble, unchecked corruption in Wall Street, and the current mess. The very people most responsible for the current meltdown are being given a trillion dollars to hand out to their cohorts, as a reward. That seems a bit beyond moral hazard, and well into ethical sewer, to me at least.

Anyway, I found the irony somewhat amusing.

[Mike P.]

Housing Doom correctly points out that the Constitution (remember that document?) says all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House, and if passed, then go to the Senate, which may propose or concur with amendments to it.

So how is the Senate voting on a bill that was rejected by the House? They attached it to a renewable energy tax incentive bill that already passed the House. Just another example of stomping all over the very thing they swore to protect and uphold.

I love that popular uprising got the House to defeat this bill. Main Street doesn't care about (or need) this bailout because our savings and investments are protected (FDIC & SIPC), something we didn't have in 1929.

[The Original RZ]

I like the idea of upping FDIC insurance to $250K. I can't imagine there'll be opposition to that section. I wish they'd consider passing that option individually rather than part of a larger package.

Still against the "rescue."

[normanpheeny]

Everytime I hear the politicans say "This is a better bill than the previous one" I crack up. So, they are saying that the previous bill was not as good as it could be. Good thing we waited! This is still a peice of crap. Maybe if we wait a year it will be a great bill.

There is no guarantee that the objective: it will clear the credit markets, will happen. How can we know this? What happens if the banks do not open up the credit markets and lending remains tight?

Also, why do the taxpayers have to buy the crap assets? Why don't we get the good assets? It's still injecting capital. Can someone please get through my thick skull why this is a good idea! I still do not get it, a down day in the stock market is still not a good enough reason.

[Matti]

Forget the bailout. Let's talk Case-Schiller!!!!

[TakeFive]

Folks, this is a manufactured crisis. These people are not acting seriously.

Hey - do I get some of this assistance too?:

SEC. 110. ASSISTANCE TO HOMEOWNERS.

(1) may include—

(A) reduction in interest rates;
(B) reduction of loan principal; and
(C) other similar modifications.

- And how can we have a bill without some PORK:

‘‘SEC. 54D. QUALIFIED ENERGY CONSERVATION BONDS.

‘‘(ii) implementing green community programs,

‘‘(D) Demonstration projects designed to

14 promote the commercialization of—
15 ‘‘(i) green building technology,
16 ‘‘(ii) conversion of agricultural waste for use in the production of fuel or otherwise,
19 ‘‘(iii) advanced battery manufacturing technologies,
21 ‘‘(iv) technologies to reduce peak use of electricity, or
23 ‘‘(v) technologies for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide emitted from combusting fossil fuels in order to produce electricity.
3 ‘‘(E) Public education campaigns to promote energy efficiency.

[Janet May]

We tax payers are going to bailout Wall Street millionaires and Bush and Paulson’s country club cronies.
Major businessmen say this bill is bad (see Steve Wynn and Trump). Top economists say it’s a bad deal.

They are trying to scare us into bailing out their lavish lifestyles. Don’t believe it. Banks ARE making loans.

If this passes stop paying on ALL your debts. If you don’t then you will be a stooge and an idiot. Stop paying and Wall Street won’t get your money! Let’s see them pay themselves $20 million pay checks when the sheeple stop sending our hard earned wages!

[TakeFive]

Was all this stripped from the original bill, or is it still in there?

We are so screwed…

SEC. 317. SEVEN-YEAR COST RECOVERY PERIOD FOR MOTORSPORTS RACING TRACK FACILITY.

SEC. 319. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT FOR HURRICANE KATRINA EMPLOYEES.

SEC. 322. TAX INCENTIVES FOR INVESTMENT IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SEC. 324. EXTENSION OF ENHANCED CHARITABLE DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF BOOK INVENTORY.

SEC. 325. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF DUTY SUSPENSION ON WOOL PRODUCTS; WOOL RESEARCH FUND; WOOL DUTY REFUNDS.

SEC. 502. PROVISIONS RELATED TO FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS.

SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.

[mike]

eventually they will wear us down. the people will get tired of screaming to their respective councilpersons and the big guys will say now the bill has the public support. if enough people scream about this second package to stop it i will be suprised. DONT EVEN TRY TO COMMENT AND TELL ME I'M WRONG ABOUT THIS!!!!! YOU ALREADY KNOW I'M RIGHT ABOUT IT.

[KenDoMore]

Don't forget it's the high earners who pay the most tax in this country. Yet they don't have the proportional amount of votes. The argument of using little guys' tax dollars to rescue fat cats is just false in this case. The government needs to do its job to normalize the financial market.

Wall Street as it was is gone. It got wiped out overnight. Wallstreeters are now literally on the street looking for jobs. Many innocent employees have their life savings wiped out. Do you want to see more banks go under and more workers in the financial industry go broke?

Many banks who lend to main street workers and homeowners are gone in a matter of weeks. Market has done its work of cleaning out bad banks. Do you now also want to punish the responsible banks? Do people want to go back to dark ages to live in a world without borrowing and lending?

This $700 b is not expenditure. It's not like money spent in the Iraq war. It's money to buy deeply discounted mortages. Much of that is tied to main street borrowers who took out loans they could not afford. As long as the price is good, tax-payers are making a smart investment for themselves.

This is a clean-out bill. The government must clean out the bad loans for the banking system to work, just as you need to hire a plumber to clean out the pipes in your house for you to live, doesn't matter who clog it up in the first place.

[ryanman]

what's the use of a comment board if you can't disagree?

[NV]

451 pages of easy read legalese.
who put this thing together, and who translates it for the rest of us?
Am I to believe the people we elected, spent the rosh hashanah recess to read and understand this document in all its complexity.

[annoyed]

Anybody calling their senators?

[OverIt]

"This $700 b is not expenditure. It's not like money spent in the Iraq war. It's money to buy deeply discounted mortages. Much of that is tied to main street borrowers who took out loans they could not afford. As long as the price is good, tax-payers are making a smart investment for themselves."

Unfortunately, it's going to turn out EXACTLY like money spent in the Iraq war (think Haliburton). Beyond that, it's like giving meds to a cancer patient. Yes, they feel better for a while but they're still gravely ill.

Anyone who supports this piece of legislation and is adamant that it's a "no-brainer" should realize that what is being bought is a nice loooong recession. By long I'm talking a Japanese type recession. Maybe it does avoid (or at least push off) a full out apocalypse and after all isn't that what it's all about - putting off until tomorrow what is unpleasant today?

[jb]

KenDoMore
A bailout and cleanup may be necessary but NOT this one.
You say "As long as the price is good, tax-payers are making a smart investment for themselves." the price is not good, this paper is worthless - do not pretend we are getting a deal. There is no guarantee this bailout will solve anything at all nor any guarantee that the banks will not be demanding another 700B right behind this one.

We demand
- real substantial taxpayer ownership in companies
- max salary of 20x avg in company for CEO, and appropriate salaries for ALL management
- tax on future gains to pay for this
- legislation to prevent future events

[anonymous]

Thanks, Peter. What an eye opener. They had to add 200 pages of pork to this to get our so-called elected officials to vote for it. I cannot describe the rage I feel at this moment.

[Nick]

To KenDoMore:

Hard to tell if you an industry shill, a corrupt legislator, financial/RE industry employee, or just really oblivious (or all of the above), but it's hard to know where to begin to refute that load. I'll give it a shot, though...

First, Wall Street is far from gone. Trading and lending are still happening, most financial companies are fine, and the overwhelming majority of smaller banks and CU's who didn't get caught up in leveraged profiteering are actually doing well these days. The whole idea that there's this systemic problem which affect blameless people and organizations is a bogus sham created by the people who caused and fueled the mess.

Second, lending is fine. Even insolvent banks can still get loans from other banks, just not at insane discounted rates which ignore risk any more. Credit will become more expensive, as it should, as the market prices in risk for the first time in a decade. Again, the world is not ending, that's just a few whiny insolvent banks crying loudly for your money.

Third, you'd have to be a pretty dense person to not realize the $700 BILLION dollars is certainly mostly an expenditure. The whole fricken point is to "recapitalize" banks... where do you think that capital is coming from? I'll give you a minute... ...that's right, from taxpayers! Seriously, this point is almost too stupid to even address.

Yes, it is kinda like a plumber, except as he cleans out all the crap and sewage from your pipes, he dumps it into your house and feeds it to your children, your clogs don't get fixed, and your pipes get a fat paycheck and encouragement to clog again as soon as possible. Now seriously, using this more accurate analogy, tell me why you would possibly support this plan?

[chancho]

NO RESCUE, NO BAILOUT, NO FREE LUNCH FOR WALL STREET. KEEP WRITING TO WASHINGTON; IT WORKS.
STOP THIS INSANITY.

THIS IS LIKE PUTTIN AIR ON A FLAT TIRE. WE HAVE TO LET THE TIRE DEFLATE, PATCH IT, FIX IT, AND THEN AND ONLY THEN CAN WE MOVE FORWARD. ANY OTHER PLAN BUT TO "FIX" THIS ECONOMY IS WORTHLESS.

THE BAILOUT IS WORTHLESS AND WILL COST US LOTS OF MONEY AND SACRIFICE FOR YEARS TO COME....

[BAILOUT BILL or POLITICAL VOMIT!!!!]

After looking at this 451 pg. albatross filled w/ crap and seeing that both Boxer and Feinstein are voting yes tonite I called Boxer's office to tell her she just signed her retirement papers.

She's up for re-election in 2010.

I'm voting her and Feinstein out of office.

[jb]

Mike Moore's bailout

Friends,

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!

Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?

I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts from us to you. The Senate, tonight, is going to try to rush their version of a "bailout" bill to a vote. They must be stopped. We did it on Monday with the House, and we can do it again today with the Senate.

It is clear, though, that we cannot simply keep protesting without proposing exactly what it is we think Congress should do. So, after consulting with a number of people smarter than Phil Gramm, here is my proposal, now known as "Mike's Rescue Plan." It has 10 simple, straightforward points. They are:

1. APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO CRIMINALLY INDICT ANYONE ON WALL STREET WHO KNOWINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS COLLAPSE. Before any new money is expended, Congress must commit, by resolution, to criminally prosecute anyone who had anything to do with the attempted sacking of our economy. This means that anyone who committed insider trading, securities fraud or any action that helped bring about this collapse must go to jail. This Congress must call for a Special Prosecutor who will vigorously go after everyone who created the mess, and anyone else who attempts to scam the public in the future.

2. THE RICH MUST PAY FOR THEIR OWN BAILOUT. They may have to live in 5 houses instead of 7. They may have to drive 9 cars instead of 13. The chef for their mini-terriers may have to be reassigned. But there is no way in hell, after forcing family incomes to go down more than $2,000 dollars during the Bush years, that working people and the middle class are going to fork over one dime to underwrite the next yacht purchase.

If they truly need the $700 billion they say they need, well, here is an easy way they can raise it:

a) Every couple who makes over a million dollars a year and every single taxpayer who makes over $500,000 a year will pay a 10% surcharge tax for five years. (It's the Senator Sanders plan. He's like Colonel Sanders, only he's out to fry the right chickens.) That means the rich will still be paying less income tax than when Carter was president. This will raise a total of $300 billion.

b) Like nearly every other democracy, charge a 0.25% tax on every stock transaction. This will raise more than $200 billion in a year.

c) Because every stockholder is a patriotic American, stockholders will forgo receiving a dividend check for one quarter and instead this money will go the treasury to help pay for the bailout.

d) 25% of major U.S. corporations currently pay NO federal income tax. Federal corporate tax revenues currently amount to 1.7% of the GDP compared to 5% in the 1950s. If we raise the corporate income tax back to the level of the 1950s, that gives us an extra $500 billion.
All of this combined should be enough to end the calamity. The rich will get to keep their mansions and their servants, and our United States government ("COUNTRY FIRST!") will have a little leftover to repair some roads, bridges and schools.

3. BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUILD AN EIGHTH HOME. There are 1.3 million homes in foreclosure right now. That is what is at the heart of this problem. So instead of giving the money to the banks as a gift, pay down each of these mortgages by $100,000. Force the banks to renegotiate the mortgage so the homeowner can pay on its current value. To insure that this help does no go to speculators and those who have tried to make money by flipping houses, this bailout is only for people's primary residence. And in return for the $100K paydown on the existing mortgage, the government gets to share in the holding of the mortgage so that it can get some of its money back. Thus, the total initial cost of fixing the mortgage crisis at its roots (instead of with the greedy lenders) is $150 billion, not $700 billion.

And let's set the record straight. People who have defaulted on their mortgages are not "bad risks." They are our fellow Americans, and all they wanted was what we all want and most of us still get: a home to call their own. But during the Bush years, millions of them lost the decent paying jobs they had. Six million fell into poverty. Seven million lost their health insurance. And every one of them saw their real wages go down by $2,000. Those who dare to look down on these Americans who got hit with one bad break after another should be ashamed. We are a better, stronger, safer and happier society when all of our citizens can afford to live in a home that they own.

4. IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GETS ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest. Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the country -- then you can get a loan, but we will own you. If you default, we will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.

5. ALL REGULATIONS MUST BE RESTORED. THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IS DEAD. This catastrophe happened because we let the fox have the keys to the henhouse. In 1999, Phil Gramm authored a bill to remove all the regulations that governed Wall Street and our banking system. The bill passed and Clinton signed it. Here's what Sen. Phil Gramm, McCain's chief economic advisor, said at the bill signing:

"In the 1930s ... it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

"We are here today to repeal [that] because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."
This bill must be repealed. Bill Clinton can help by leading the effort for the repeal of the Gramm bill and the reinstating of even tougher regulations regarding our financial institutions. And when they're done with that, they can restore the regulations for the airlines, the inspection of our food, the oil industry, OSHA, and every other entity that affects our daily lives. All oversight provisions for any "bailout" must have enforcement monies attached to them and criminal penalties for all offenders.

6. IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FAIL, THEN THAT MEANS IT'S TOO BIG TO EXIST. Allowing the creation of these mega-mergers and not enforcing the monopoly and anti-trust laws has allowed a number of financial institutions and corporations to become so large, the very thought of their collapse means an even bigger collapse across the entire economy. No one or two companies should have this kind of power. The so-called "economic Pearl Harbor" can't happen when you have hundreds -- thousands -- of institutions where people have their money. When you have a dozen auto companies, if one goes belly-up, we don't face a national disaster. If you have three separately-owned daily newspapers in your town, then one media company can't call all the shots (I know... What am I thinking?! Who reads a paper anymore? Sure glad all those mergers and buyouts left us with a strong and free press!). Laws must be enacted to prevent companies from being so large and dominant that with one slingshot to the eye, the giant falls and dies. And no institution should be allowed to set up money schemes that no one can understand. If you can't explain it in two sentences, you shouldn't be taking anyone's money.

7. NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD BE PAID MORE THAN 40 TIMES THEIR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE, AND NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD RECEIVE ANY KIND OF "PARACHUTE" OTHER THAN THE VERY GENEROUS SALARY HE OR SHE MADE WHILE WORKING FOR THE COMPANY. In 1980, the average American CEO made 45 times what their employees made. By 2003, they were making 254 times what their workers made. After 8 years of Bush, they now make over 400 times what their average employee makes. How this can happen at publicly held companies is beyond reason. In Britain, the average CEO makes 28 times what their average employee makes. In Japan, it's only 17 times! The last I heard, the CEO of Toyota was living the high life in Tokyo. How does he do it on so little money? Seriously, this is an outrage. We have created the mess we're in by letting the people at the top become bloated beyond belief with millions of dollars. This has to stop. Not only should no executive who receives help out of this mess profit from it, but any executive who was in charge of running his company into the ground should be fired before the company receives any help.

8. STRENGTHEN THE FDIC AND MAKE IT A MODEL FOR PROTECTING NOT ONLY PEOPLE'S SAVINGS, BUT ALSO THEIR PENSIONS AND THEIR HOMES. Obama was correct yesterday to propose expanding FDIC protection of people's savings in their banks to $250,000. But this same sort of government insurance must be given to our nation's pension funds. People should never have to worry about whether or not the money they've put away for their old age will be there. This will mean strict government oversight of companies who manage their employees' funds -- or perhaps it means that the companies will have to turn over those funds and their management to the government. People's private retirement funds must also be protected, but perhaps it's time to consider not having one's retirement invested in the casino known as the stock market. Our government should have a solemn duty to guarantee that no one who grows old in this country has to worry about ending up destitute.

9. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET FEAR RULE THE DAY. Turn off the TV! We are not in the Second Great Depression. The sky is not falling. Pundits and politicians are lying to us so fast and furious it's hard not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I, yesterday, wrote to you and repeated what I heard on the news, that the Dow had the biggest one day drop in its history. Well, that's true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23% of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of business. These institutions have always had their ups and downs and eventually it works out. It has to, because the rich do not like their wealth being disrupted! They have a vested interest in calming things down and getting back into the Jacuzzi.

As crazy as things are right now, tens of thousands of people got a car loan this week. Thousands went to the bank and got a mortgage to buy a home. Students just back to college found banks more than happy to put them into hock for the next 15 years with a student loan. Life has gone on. Not a single person has lost any of their money if it's in a bank or a treasury note or a CD. And the most amazing thing is that the American public hasn't bought the scare campaign. The citizens didn't blink, and instead told Congress to take that bailout and shove it. THAT was impressive. Why didn't the population succumb to the fright-filled warnings from their president and his cronies? Well, you can only say 'Saddam has da bomb' so many times before the people realize you're a lying sack of shite. After eight long years, the nation is worn out and simply can't take it any longer.

10. CREATE A NATIONAL BANK, A "PEOPLE'S BANK." If we really are itching to print up a trillion dollars, instead of giving it to a few rich people, why don't we give it to ourselves? Now that we own Freddie and Fannie, why not set up a people's bank? One that can provide low-interest loans for all sorts of people who want to own a home, start a small business, go to school, come up with the cure for cancer or create the next great invention. And now that we own AIG, the country's largest insurance company, let's take the next step and provide health insurance for everyone. Medicare for all. It will save us so much money in the long run. And we won't be 12th on the life expectancy list. We'll be able to have a longer life, enjoying our government-protected pension, and living to see the day when the corporate criminals who caused so much misery are let out of prison so that we can help reacclimate them to civilian life -- a life with one nice home and a gas-free car that was invented with help from the People's Bank.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

[fred]

I am a democrat that has voted for Boxer/Feinstein in every election they have been in - I hereby promise to vote for whichever candidate has the best chance of unseating them.

[KenDoMore]

Persoanl attack won't solve any problem.

Here is the interview that everybody should listen to:

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/10/1/1/an-exclusive-conversation-with-warren-buffett

[Maggie Knowles]

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bush gazed around the diamond-studded $800-a-plate crowd and commented on the wealth on display.

"This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores," quipped the GOP standard-bearer. "Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/18/politics/main242210.shtml
or
http://tinyurl.com/4exl9

[jag]

Bunch of whimps! I can't believe that our government are nothing but puppets of corporate america. I still haven't seen the market rally as of this minute.