Obama calls bailout a 'blank check'

[cali]

By MIKE ALLEN | 9/21/08 2:44 PM EDT Text Size:



Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) heaped criticism Sunday on President Bush's mortgage-bailout blueprint, calling it a "blank check" for the administration and Wall Street with insufficient safeguards for taxpayers and homeowners.

"hus far, the Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan," Obama said in a statement. "This crisis started with homeowners and they bear the brunt of the nearly unprecedented collapse in housing prices. We cannot have a plan for Wall Street banks that does not help homeowners stay in their homes and help distressed communities."

Obama on Friday had embraced the concept of the bailout, and his statement does not change that. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), his rival for the presidency, has been noncommittal.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday shows that the administration would resist additions to the skeleton of the $700 billion plan sent to Capitol Hill on Saturday. Specifically, Paulson said he was opposed to limits on executive compensation for financial institutions — an idea embraced by the Obama response.

Like some congressional leaders, Obama said the administration's three-page outline does not permit sufficient oversight.

<snip>

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13703.html

[dchill]

1. Well, having read the "plan", I can say without...

doubt that that's exactly what it is. To pass this proposal as written would be a crime, committed by Congress.

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/09/bailout-proposal.html

[babylonsister]

2. Can someone refresh my memory, because I don't recall Obama

embracing anything. I recall him being cautious. :shrug:

[writes3000]

8. No, it's saying that Obama "embraces" limiting CEO exit packages when companies fail.

Unlike Paulson.

[Runcible Spoon]

3. so criticize it and embrace it simultaneously...

sigh. I appreciate all of the stipulations he wants put into the bailout, but this is empty rhetoric. He's never going to get any of what he has asked for, and he can thank the spineless Dem leadership for that partially.

The only noble thing he can do is categorically refuse to support the bailout in any way shape or form unless it includes provisions for "Main Street", not just bailouts for Wall Street.

Come on Obama!

[CitizenPatriot]

4. I read the plan

and it read a lot like the plan I got from my nephew last month, asking me to borrow 5k for a Camaro, with a lot of ways it would benefit him but no guarantees for me, the lender.

I was hoping for a bit more from the grown-ups, especially those who are making 100's of thousand a year to "handle" these kinds of crisis (or should I say 17 million, since that is what our guy got paid by GoldmanSachs when he was Fed Reserve appointee but not in office yet)...and certainly more than the barely 3 page document which seemed to concentrate more on how to protect the man behind the curtain than the tax-payers and the investors, as well as hold these corporations accountable for their fraudulent practices.

[panader0]

5. Donna Brazille counciled caution this morning on G. Stepananopolis

Saying that this proposal needs to studied for a while. And checks and transparency, and NOTHING for the CEOs. (last part mine)

[Alhena]

6. Big relief to hear him say that

[LiberadorHugo]

7. Can somebody explain this to me?

Why would limits on executive compensation and requirements of government oversight be considered as bad things?

[dragonlady]

12. You have to compensate experts fairly

and let them do their jobs as they see fit because they know the best way to do things. We can't attract the brightest, most talented people unless we pay them the salary and perks they want and then let them have free rein to handle the job.

:sarcasm:

[EV_Ares]

9. Obama is right, it is a blank check and we have seen what this administration can

do with blank checks. I am sure he agrees we need to do something and something as quickly as possible but with some oversight, safeguards and an actual plan where we can see what the goals are and where this thing actually goes and what it takes with it.

So far it appears to only help those who got us into the mess in the first place and they have got us to a point where we have to do something but there can also be a plan to help some of the homeowners as well.

Also, a plan where the government actually takes over some of these institutions and the taxpayer has stock in them where the money to be made if any would be by us the taxpayer instead of the individuals who caused it. Also, no bonus for the CEOs of these companies.

I trust Obama to make the right decision and it won't be political like whatever McShame tries to say in his convoluted way.

K&R.

[LiberadorHugo]

10. A 3 page outline?

I've had more sophisticated projects and essays than that in high school. :-P And I was a high school in a time in which the Ontario Minister of Education was a high school dropout who spent most of the year drinking at his ranch in Oklahoma. The McGuinty Liberals are not a panacea compared to their reactionary counterparts in the Harris administration, but at least we have people who know a little something about education running our system.

[tiptoe]

11. NeoconNazi *Co continues the bankrupting of US Treasury. Treasonous jackals. n/t