Bill allows for $700bn bailout EVERY year
Bailout bill loops in green tech, IRS snooping
| Bailout type | Cost to taxpayers (Source: Reuters) |
|---|---|
| Financial bailout package approved this week | up to or more than $700 billion |
| Bear Stearns financing | $29 billion |
| Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac nationalization | $200 billion |
| AIG loan and nationalization | $85 billion |
| Federal Housing Administration housing rescue bill | $300 billion |
| Mortgage community grants | $4 billion |
| JPMorgan Chase repayments | $87 billion |
| Loans to banks via Fed's Term Auction Facility | $200 billion+ |
| Loans from Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund | $50 billion |
| Purchases of mortgage securities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac | $144 billion |
| POSSIBLE TOTAL | $1.8 trillion+ |
| NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS PER U.S. CENSUS | 105,480,101 |
| POSSIBLE COST PER HOUSEHOLD | $17,064+ |
Last week, the Bush administration proposed a three-page bill to bail out Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion. It died in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week.
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Section 115 of the law says that the administration can, after notifying Congress and waiting 15 days, purchase and hold $700 billion of assets "at any one time." (It can buy and hold $350 billion without waiting.)
This, too, is a potential loophole. It permits the Treasury Department to buy up, say, $700 billion in 2008, sell those assets off gradually over the next year at a (probable) loss, and repeat the same process in 2009. Losses to taxpayers, in other words, could exceed $700 billion. Although the Treasury Department is instructed to try to avoid losses, the text of the law does not forbid that scenario.
Bailout fails - they want more!
This is a much better plan than the bail-out.