Senator Bernie Sanders is introducing legislation to Stop the Bail Out of the rest of the $350 billion dollars that hasn't been given to banks.
Senator Bernie Sanders said today he will introduce legislation to stop the release of a $350-billion second round of the Wall Street bailout. Sanders, who voted against the $700-billion package Congress approved in October, said he has serious concerns about how the Bush administration and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are spending the bailout money that was already released. He also said it was unacceptable that the oversight provisions in the bill were ignored. “I have very serious concerns as to how the Bush administration is spending the first $350 billion they were provided. The second $350 billion tranche must not be spent in the same way,” Sanders said.
Ya gotta shake your head when just like that Hank Paulson and the Bush administration hand over $250 billion to selected banks yet try to fight any of the bail out money going to homeowners.
FDIC publishes $24 billion plan to avert 1.5 million foreclosures by end of 2009
Testifying on Capitol Hill Friday, Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for financial stability, said the aim of the $700 billion plan was to make investments with the hope of getting the money back. That he said, was "fundamentally different from just having a government spending program" that would disburse money with no chance of ever seeing any returns.
Government spending program? No returns? Seems like financing executive pay packages for do nothings who already ran their companies into the ground is the real spending program with no returns.
The Senate is going to try to push through a bail out package for the auto industry.
The plan details are unclear and there is a test vote on Wednesday.
CQ Politics has a few more details on what might be in the bill.
Sen. Carl Levin , D-Mich., has been working on legislation to provide $25 billion in “bridge loans” to the “Big Three” automakers. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank , D-Mass., has been heading efforts to draft bailout legislation in that chamber.
House and Senate leaders have said any legislation must include the same type of restrictions and taxpayer protections as the larger financial industry bailout plan Congress cleared in October, including limits on executive compensation.
[Paulson] has shelved the original plan to buy troubled mortgage assets while turning his attention to nonbank financial institutions and consumer finance.
Purchasing these so-called "toxic" assets was once the cornerstone of the rescue plan for financial markets and was almost the entire focus of Congress when the package was being debated before its enactment. But almost as soon as Treasury received the money, it decided that giving capital to banks in return for preferred stock was a better use of the funds.
Some details on the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae restructuring plans:
Under the proposal, mortgage servicers will work with borrowers to reduce monthly payments to 38 percent of their gross income, a threshold of affordability, by lowering the principal, reducing interest rates and extending the length of the loan term. The plan doesn't include money from the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue and isn't mandatory for companies that received federal aid.
Conditions and Fees
Homeowners that qualify will receive notices about the program. Their loan modifications won't become final until they have made three consecutive payments, and there is no limit to the number of times a loan can be modified. The new payment will include all of the borrower's monthly housing costs, such as taxes and condominium payments.
American Express Co. won Federal Reserve approval to convert to a commercial bank, gaining access to funds as credit losses build and sales of asset-backed bonds plummet.
The Fed waived a 30-day waiting period on the application ``in light of the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets,'' according to a statement released today in Washington. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues unanimously voted for the action.
So American express is already to line up to the discount window and who wants to bet bail out money is sure to follow?
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