Thu, 09/25/2008 - 6:58am — vastleft
Remember the good old days, before the 110th Congress, when Bill Maher said:
"So when they say, 'Democrats are obstructionists,' you say, 'You're welcome.' Sometimes, good people have to intercede to prevent dire consequences.
This morning, underneath a video of McCain, HuffPo's homepage triumphantly lists this chronology:
Sunday: McCain Endorses Bailout... Tuesday: McCain Says He Hasn't Actually Read Bailout Plan... Wednesday: Obama Leads In Polls, McCain "Suspends" Campaign To Focus Exclusively On Bailout...Then Tapes Interview With Katie Couric... Wednesday Night: Dems Say They've Already Reached Deal On Bailout
See how brilliant the Democrats are? In order to salvage Obama's Friday night date, they're hastily rearranging the gold-plated CEO chairs on Paulson's plan to git 'er done, and pronto!
Sure, it'll cost maybe $3,333 (plus interest) for each and every American to set Hank on a spending spree that makes Brewster's Millions look like Pennies from Heaven, but by gum, let's get the Changemeister to the debates on time! Trillions-be-damned, America's future hangs in the balance!
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NPR's Business Report
at 5:50PST said, as best I can summarize, that Democratic leaders had circulated a 2 page summary of a revised bailout, including "some" limits on executive compensation and a provision to allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgage terms. Conservatives balked at the bankruptcy provision. Obama told Dems bankruptcy provision would have to be dropped to get the deal. That was the financial industry's chief objection to the revision.
So much for Main Street.
I'll be surprised
if the bankruptcy provision survives.
What are the stated objections
to the bankruptcy plan? I haven't heard anybody explain this. I don't mean "Because they're greedy bastards" or "Because the banks don't like it," I mean what do those who oppose it offer as an explanation?
Check out clause 8
Multiple posts here that address this concern; I won't bother to link to them; scroll back through my blog.
Clause 8 gives Paulson unfettered discretion to dispose of the $700 billion dollars with no oversight whatever (and the ability to grant retroactive immunity, too -- to execs and companies that are already being investigated. The Bush administration has a track record here, and it's not a good one.
For an extended, and financially far more literate set of objections, see Newberry here.
You might also check out Paul Krugman's blog.
I agree that the objections haven't been brought together in a single, easy to understand post; the situation has been fast moving. Readers?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
I'm not asking about opposition to the bailout in general
I'm asking about the specific proposal to have bankruptcy judges adjust mortgages. (That's why I used the term "bankruptcy," y'see.)
P.S.: It's just the Republicans
who oppose it, in my understanding. Again, what are their stated reasons (the ones they cite in public) for opposing it?
OK, found the answer
in Andrew Leonard's invaluable "How the World Works" blog on Salon:
"The mortgage modification provision is anathema to the Mortgage Bankers Association, which likes to call such modifications "cramdowns" and claims that giving bankruptcy judges the power to modify contracts will result in higher mortgage loan interest rates -- thus making it harder for Americans to afford homes. Even worse, any such attempt to cut homeowners a break would imperil the sanctity of the holy contract, as former House Republican Dick Armey wrote in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in January...."
For more, including rebuttals:
http://tinyurl.com/3jetcs
Sorry...
... "the bankruptcy plan" was vague to me. I didn't understand, and this is truly not snark, that you meant "the bankruptcy portion of the bailout plan." (It's symptomatic of the difficulties with "the plan" that it doesn't really have a name... ) Thanks for the info. (TinyURLs are evil, though; at some point I have to write why.)
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Well, my question immediately followed
two comments on the bankruptcy portion of the bailout plan, from Treehugger and Lahdee, so I didn't understand why it wouldn't be clear that's what I was referring to. Also, in my understanding "bankruptcy" is not a synonym for "bailout." Two different animals.
Well, you're dealing with stupid people
So I guess you'll just have to adjust.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi