Draft Text of The Big Shitpile Bailout now online

lambert's picture

Here, as a PDF. It's a draft. Emphasis draft, meaning that the optimal point of screwnity has not yet been achieved.

It's not up at public markup yet. I have to go out, so when it does appear there, will a kind reader post the link?

Meanwhile, CR has excellent analysis as usual:

Iit's all up to the Secretary to establish the [pricing] rules. Same with Warrants - it's up to the Secretary to negotiate.

NOTE Krugman (via BTD) says pass it now and fix it later:

Not a good plan. But sufficiently not-awful, I think, to be above the line; and hopefully the whole thing can be fixed next year.

"Hopefully" and "changefully"? What's the argument, here? That our leverage will be less when there's no crisis?

Note also Krugman's qualifier:

Add: House staff tells me that there are significant changes from this draft. More info when I get it.

UPDATE For those not familiar with the acronym, TARP means Taxpayer Anal Rape Program. I think.

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amberglow's picture

what's this stuff about buying assets from all sorts of places?

WSJ-- "... The Pelosi summary also said the legislation will expand the range of firms that can sell troubled assets to the government to include pension plans, local governments and community banks serving "low- and middle-income families." ..." -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12225768...

private company pension plans?????

amberglow's picture

"Section 132. Authority to Suspend Mark-to-Market Accounting."

-- http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politi...

what is it, and why should it be suspended?

there's way too much stuff that's unexplained in this....

and this---

"Section 301. Gain or Loss From Sale or Exchange of Certain Preferred Stock.
Details certain changes in the tax treatment of losses on the preferred stock of certain GSEs for financial institutions."

which means they'd pay none? less? more?

amberglow's picture

on Mark-to-Market--this is absolutely needed--

it apparently means they couldn't just make up values of assets but had to use what the market would pay for stuff at the time --

"... The people who write and enforce our national accounting standards mandate that publicly traded financial companies must report some of their assets (things like mortgage-backed securities) and liabilities (like money they’ve borrowed from other institutions) at “marked-to-market” values. That is, if you bought a certain security at $100 last year, but you can’t find anyone to buy it this year for more than $40, you’ve got to report its worth as $40, since, unless you plan to build a time machine, that’s the “fair-value market price” it would command. ..." -- http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0925...

So if they suspend it, companies can say their shit is worth gold.

lambert's picture

Well, their shit IS worth gold

because Paulson's going to use your trillion to buy it up.

Try to pay attention, amberglow.

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