Paulson: What I do with the $700B cannot be questioned by courts or Congress or anyone.

[Robbien]

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

This is not just a blank check. A blank check has no restrictions on how it is spent, but blank checks can be audited. Even the blank checks given to Halliburton are open to audits.



And Schumer is right now arm-twisting Dems into signing onto this?

[aquart]

1. Aw, has Dick been tutoring him?

Doesn't this make Paulson bigger than all three branches of government?

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. "And Schumer is right now arm-twisting Dems into signing onto this? "

Yep... the very same Schumer who gave us Mukasey...

[lostnotforgotten]

3. Debt - 596 Trillion Derivatives - 58 Trillion Credit Default Swaps - 2.5 Trillion Credit Card

What is 700B gonna Buy You?

See www.wallstreetdigest.com/hotline.php

[backscatter712]

4. With the inflation this bailout will cause...

before long, 700B will get you little more than a nice dinner.

[Robbien]

5. Or it could buy nothing

The way this bill is written, Paulson could divvy up the $700B between his closest family and friends with no one being allowed to say word one.

[Benhurst]

6. Congress doesn't have the power under the Constitution to

enact a law which cannot be reviewed by the courts.

When are the assclowns in Congress going to wake up?

Surely, surely our "leaders" and Members of Congress won't go along with this.

If they do, the no longer deserve our support.

[radfringe]

7. so much for transparency and accountability

translation: Paulson - what I'm going to do is illegal, and I don't want to be bothered with pesky things like laws, and regulations.

[lligrd]

8. Is Paulson Afraid Of Personal Responsibility

Seems so. Why are only the poor held to that standard?

[midnight]

9. The last sentence is the most terrifying.

Schumer is right now arm-twisting Dems into signing onto this? I will have to do some google on this guy.

[GoesTo11]

10. What if he decided to buy a piece of gum from his wife for $700B

Would that be non-reviewable? Seems so. That's a lot of trust to put in one man.

[mascarax]

11. Trust in an Appointed Man!

Former CEO of Goldman Sachs...appointed by Dubya...

Remember the billions of dollars that just plain disappeared in Iraq? Why would we allow this to happen again?!

[Ghost Dog]

12. This is not limited to $700bn. It is unlimited:

See here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x385679#386171

Paulson can buy and sell as much as he likes, as long as there is no more than $700bn outstanding on his books at any one time:

...

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.—The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

...

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

...

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.—The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

...

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretarys authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. But if he manages to sell the assets, then he would actually be doing his job

The amount that can be 'thrown away' (diverted to wherever he likes, as long as he manages to call it a purchase of a 'mortgage-backed asset') is $700 billion. Which is still more money that anyone's been given before.

[Ghost Dog]

15. Depends what remains 'on his books', doesn't it?

And, on the books: Say he buys for 700 (taxpayers' cash), sells for 500. Net result negative 200. Now he can pump in another 500 fresh from taxpayers. for new purchases. (total 1200 so far) And so on and on... And if he manages to make a profit, he can go back to taxpeyers for more than 700.

The only limit here is what's outstanding at any given time.

[Blarch]

14. I fucking hate Schumer.

What a fucking hack. Are NYers idiots or something ?

[Roland99]

16. That ain't no damned typo!

[moondust]

17. delete