Congress, Bush team agree on some bailout terms
Monday September 22, 4:06 pm ET
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis

Administration accepts some of Dems' demands in bailout bill; Stocks still plunge, oil soars


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scrambling for a quick accord on the $700 billion bailout, the Bush administration and leading lawmakers have agreed to include mortgage aid and strong congressional oversight along with unprecedented help for failing financial institutions, a key lawmaker said Monday.

Unimpressed, investors sent stocks plummeting anew, pushed oil up $16 a barrel and propelled gold prices ever higher as they searched for a safe place to park their money.

President Bush prodded Congress to pass the administration's rescue plan quickly, declaring, "The whole world is watching." And there did seem to be movement in talks between the White House and Capitol Hill.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said "a great deal of progress has already been made." And a government official with knowledge of the talks said the administration had agreed to create a plan to help prevent foreclosures on mortgages it acquires as part of the bailout -- a key demand of Democratic lawmakers.

Under other additions the Democrats are asking to the administration package, according to a draft of the plan obtained by The Associated Press:

-- Judges could rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners' monthly payments.

-- Companies that unloaded their bad assets on the government in the massive rescue would have to Limit their executives' Pay packages and agree to Revoke any Bonuses awarded based on bogus claims.

The proposal by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, would give the government broad power to buy up virtually any kind of bad asset -- including credit card debt or car loans -- from any financial institution in the U.S. or abroad in order to stabilize markets.

But it would end the program at the end of next year, instead of creating the two-year initiative that the Bush administration has sought. And it would add layers of oversight, including an emergency board to keep an eye on the program with two congressional appointees, and a special inspector general appointed by the president.

The plan also would Require that the Government get Shares in the troubled companies helped by the rescue.

[....]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080922/financial_meltdown.html

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Im just at a loss for words, how could these so called professional bankers create this nightmare. Heads should roll for this, I think criminal charges should be levied against many CEO's, I mean what they did almost lead to complete destruction of the US economy.

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"True Freedom is the Freedom to oppress others"

Ideology: Self Preservation.

I would think Shareholders in many of these Banks/Brokers have Civil grounds for Lawsuits.

There was Grotesque mismanagement... and widespread.
Should go back 3 or 4 years too!
Not sure what the law is on that though.
And their idiot's defense would be 'everyone else was doing it' SO it isn't 'below standard practice'.

Bizarre, tragic and horrendous situation.
The Bonuses Unconscienable.

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I can't believe they let Chris Dodd anywhere near the bill.

Well (*)(*)(*)(*) those Dems are so brilliant. So I should go out a run all my credit cards up to the max and then dump that debt onto the government. I could use a lower mortgage so I guess I just wont pay mine for a couple of months and let a judge tell WaMu that I don’t have to pay as much.

Geez what a wonderful life!!!!! Or did congress eat a few to many of the wrong mushrooms and go down Alice’s rabbit hole. Who was stupid and voted for these fools?

By the way the bail out... When it’s all done and AIG is sold off the government will make a profit. When all those mortgages are sold off in a few years the government will either break even or make a profit. The problem now is that no money is being let by the banks, so this bailout will start the lending again and then the housing prices will bottom out and slowly start to increase

I'm totally in support of investigations to see if any manipulation was going on and any other impropriities that caused this mess. BUT it MUST also include doing the SAME with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

Good points. AND when the government eventually makes money off our OUR (the taxpayers) bailout.....will the money come back to us????? OR will these Dems simply think it as "theirs" to spend on any other program or nonsense they see fit to?

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

What's incredible is how you are deluded into believing Democrats are responsible. Maybe you should take a political science class on Cause & Effect.

The Republicans on this site are not credible. Everything is the fault of the Democrats, even when it isn't their fault. It's like you have no actual grasp of what's going on, and you simply accept whatever your Republican deity tells you.

Republicans and 'conservatives' are part of the government too.

Ok ... who mentioned mushrooms and Alice in Wonderland? Why do I ask? Here are some key concepts that dont fit the glowing future for AIG: 'compound interest'; 'cost of capital'; 'lost opportunity'; 'public debt servicing'; 'foreign debt risk'.

And there are other issues at stake on a much closer horizon than a presumption that the bail-out will turn a profit some unspecified day, given those ugly financial realities listed in brackets above.

But there are even more worrying uncertainties. Let me provide you with a quote from Texas Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling to illustrate this:

"Congress is being asked to support an uncertain entity, costing an uncertain amount of dollars, for an uncertain duration," he said. "My fear is that taxpayers will be left with the mother of all debts, the federal government becomes the lender and guarantor of last resort, and our nation finds itself on the slippery slope to socialism."

Now THAT seems much less of a fairy story. And .... it fell from the lips of a Republican.

Oh, and guess who is picking up the tidbits from this finanacial debacle - this fiasco resulting from unregulated consequences of the Republican Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act - yep, Mitsubishi and top Japanese brokerage group Nomura Holdings.

Not only can competitor nations such as China, Russia and Japan cripple the greenback and our economy by demanding only 15% of our debtors paper that they hold (2006 conclusion - International Conference on Global Financial risks, Geneva, Switserland), but they are owning more and more of our financial machine.

People, we need to stop spending so much, and the two top extraordinary candidates are the bail-out and the military war chest. Our public debt is the huge catch-all for many collosal mismanagements of our country that has been swept under the carpet of voter ignorance.