Okay. After reflection and discussion here and in the hinterlands I have come to agree with godfrey n. glad and ChuckF and others in saying that this is basically just another cash giveaway to the rich. A couple interesting questions come up from different sources regarding the bailout:
Questions
What guarantees or oversight can be made to insure that the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs and now Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson isn’t manipulating markets in favor of Goldman Sachs?
David Cay Johnston points out that The bail-out of AIG has a huge upside for Goldman Sachs, since AIG owes Goldman Sachs $20 billion. Are there to be any rules that require the counter-parties be listed to tell U.S. taxpayers who all is being bailed-out?
Why are we proposing to bail-out corporations that purposely incorporate in off-shore tax-havens to avoid paying taxes in the U.S? Why are there no stipulations requiring any bailed-out corporations to move their incorporation back to the U.S.?
Does it make sense that the five-member oversight committee be composed of the Treasury Secretary, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Head of the SEC, and two other executive branch members? (I’ve seen other lists, I’m not sure what the accurate list or what bail-out 2 lists)
Where does the U.S. find money for infrastructure, energy independence, or anything else after passing this $700 billion dollar corporate bail-out?
According to the conference call from the Treasury to analysts, regarding bail-out bill 1, (thanks pinecone)
there would be no action for a few weeks after the bill supposedly passed. What does this say about the urgency of jamming this bill through without detailed review because the sky is falling?
From the same source, why does the bail-out not affect the massive incomes and golden parachutes of current contracts? It appears the only stipulations on CEO pay involve new contracts taken on during the oversight period.
Why does bail-out bill 2 include these
items:
Quote:
SEC. 308. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COVER OVER OF RUM EXCISE TAX TO PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
SEC. 309. EXTENSION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CREDIT FOR AMERICAN SAMOA.
SEC. 317. SEVEN-YEAR COST RECOVERY PERIOD FOR MOTORSPORTS RACING TRACK FACILITY.
SEC. 325. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF DUTY SUSPENSION ON WOOL PRODUCTS; WOOL RESEARCH FUND; WOOL DUTY REFUNDS.
SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.
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Bail-out 2 also
includes:
$3.3 billion in rural school aid
$78.8 billion extension of protections of middle class families at risk of being levied under the alternative minimum tax (I don’t know what this is about)
$14 billion in business tax breaks
$3.8 billion (over five years) health-care provision requiring insurers to cover mental health care the same as they do other medical costs
Increases the costs by additional $105 billion for next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office estimate.
Why not pass this bill as a separate bill instead of adding 300+ pages to the house version and bury billions of additions and completely unrelated x-mas tree ornaments? What does this also say about the back-room deal-making, the business-as-usual, and the supposed urgency surrounding pushing this bill down the throats of the public?
I know that's a lot of questions, sorry if that's too much for one post. I'm also asking one last question- what's the chance the bail-out
won't get passed?
Bail-out questions
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