Bush Signs Bailout Bill into Law

2008_10_bailbush.jpg
At left, the House's vote; at right, President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson shaking hands; both photographs from the AP

Quickly after the House of Representatives passed the $700 billion bailout package, President Bush signed H.R. 1424 into law, authorizing "the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a Troubled Assets Relief Program to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions; provides Alternative Minimum Tax relief; extends expiring tax provisions and establishes energy tax incentives; and temporarily increases Federal Deposit Insurance limits."

Bush tried to reassure the Americans "who have concerns about this legislation, especially about the government's role and the bill's cost," by saying he believed the "ultimate" would be much less when assets recover. He added:

Americans should also expect that it will take some time for this legislation to have its full impact on our economy. Exercising the authorities in this bill in a responsible way will require a careful analysis and deliberation. This will be done as expeditiously as possible, but it cannot be accomplished overnight. We'll take the time necessary to design an effective program that achieves its objectives -- and does not waste taxpayer dollars.
The NY Times says that the stakes are high for the Treasury Department, as it has "barely a month to get" what will essentially be "one of the world's largest asset management firms" "up and running." The Wall Street Journal explains, "Treasury faces a host of complex questions it must answer before it can roll out the program broadly. Among the biggest issues: which assets to buy, how to buy the assets and whom to buy the assets from." More details on which lawmakers switched votes here--of the four New York representatives who voted no, only one switched to a yea, Republican Randy Kuhl.

Yesterday, the Dow Jones fell 157 points, after the Labor Department revealed 159,000 jobs were eliminated in September, the "fastest pace in five years," making this the worst week for the stock market in seven years. And Warren Buffett says the rescue bill is not a "panacea" for the economy.

Email This Entry


Comments (20) [rss]

Henry Paulson now owns you. Might as well pay your taxes straight to Goldman Sachs.

The country is gone, next step will be an inflationary depression the likes not seen *ever* on the history of this nation.

Nobody likes the bill, but it has to be done. If it can help unclog the credit markets, then by all means do it. Whoever happens to say this is akin to french socialism as some republicans are spouting is full of shit.

Hopefully if this is done correctly, the US government may possibly profit after it sells off the assets they are about to buy in the next few weeks.

Obama, you are inheriting this mess. Good luck with it.

Good point that most people don't understand, Kojak. There's an excellent chance the government/taxpayers will actually make a good profit on this deal.

Does anyone wonder why the approval rating for congress is in the single digits?

Kojak, yeah because institutions bundling up and selling properties has worked gangbusters in the past. But I'm sure the government will have more qualified people on their top-dollar payrolls than the banks did who tried the same thing.

Henry Paulson - Goldman's top day trader.

From his wikipedia bio: (and track record to date):

"Secretary Paulson told an audience at the Shanghai Futures Exchange that "An open, competitive, and liberalized financial market can effectively allocate scarce resources in a manner that promotes stability and prosperity far better than governmental intervention." [23]

In August 2007, Secretary Paulson explained that U.S. subprime mortgage fallout remained largely contained due to the strongest global economy in decades. [24]

On July 20, 2008, after the failure of Indymac Bank, Paulson reassured the public by saying, “it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation.” [25]

On August 10, 2008, Secretary Paulson told NBC’s Meet the Press that he had no plans to inject any capital into Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.[26]

On September 7, 2008, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went into conservatorship.[27]

With the passage of H.R. 1424, he became the manager of the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund."

Seems to me -- he is out of his league and has no idea what he is doing. May heaven help us.

Do you know about ARGENTINA? Do some research, because what happened to ARGENTINA is what is happening to the US right now.

Anyway talk to me 6 months from now, when you've basically lost 70-80% of your investments.

Invest in commodities, they are going to be premium in the future (invest in precious metals, Gold & Silver).

Mark my words, within 6 months or less the whole thing will implode. Total staggering inflation.

Massive riots, martial law, total chaos (in a Road Warrior sort of way).

Did anybody read that the HOUSE was threatened to either pass the bill or be subjected to Martial Law ? (google it!).

And of course let's not forget the OCTOBER SURPRISE (could be anything, economic implosion/martial law, another attack, total internet shut down).

PROBLEM-REACTION-SOLUTION.

And yet I am loving this, because this will surely wake people up (many already have within the last 3 weeks alone).


line starts here. free money.
except for you working and middle class americans.

BUG, look into MIDAS RESOURCES if you want to invest in Gold & Silver.

Lady Bug, what part of "The Elite have been investing in commodities for years" do you not get? This is NOT new, they have been doing this for years (even when the markets were 'good.')

Stop thinking that The Elite is Mr. and Mrs. Mc Mansions, that's not the Elite. The Elite operates on a Global scale (which is why another word for them is Globalists) with various investments worldwide. That's the Elite.


[quote]Are you serious? I never believe such stories on the internet! A lot of internet stories are not correct journalism anywa[/quote]y


Oh yeah because the US media is full of integrity and accuracy, hey BUG did you know we are the laughing stock of the world due to our media? There is more media blackout here then in Russia. Stop pretending that the traditional media is great journalism, when said media is bough off by the Elite themselves.

[quote]Well thanks for nothin' then. I hope the younger generation supports you likewise in your retirement years.[/quote]

Lady, you BOOMERS are the ones that cause this mess, now lie in it.

And it's a long way before retirement, besides most people won't retire until they are 80 something. Which is good as it will keep them alive longer.

And hopefully this country will still have a bleeping chance at being the Republic it was once when I am 70 something.

And I am not threatening you, I have no power in the Markets so how exactly is that threatening you?

You should feel threatened and angry at CONGRESS for passing this criminal bailout plan.

THEM? It's the BANKERS, the GLOBALISTS, THE ELITE. GLOBAL INVESTORS. We will become debt slaves (we already are) to Foreign powers in Europe and Asia.

ARGENTINA was a first world country, they had a bigger middle class per capita then the US and had tremendous growth. Then they had another bankers designed financial crisis (like the US is having now) and now they are TOTAL third world.

Its not completely hopeless, things can still be rectify, If people would just stand up and exercise their freedoms given by the constitution.

Did you know that the ELITE are moving out of the US and Israel for years? Even Hollywood is moving out.

Do you know where?

DUBAI, Abu Dhabi
CHINA
LONDON
Undisclosed locations in South America and other parts of Asia

If staying in the US they are moving to places like Colorado and MONTANA.

I was just kidding around with Taipei, I am not moving to China (neither of the two..not Taiwan or the Mainland).

HONG KONG would be a temporary location until I move further into Asia.

Follow the Money, and the East has it.

This passed bill stinks because we are all on the hook for the questionable value of these questionable debts. Since these firms had no other options, we the people should have gotten the prime, profitable parts as an incentive for these firms to pay back what they are supposed to, and not the junk.

Got a big mess? Throw a T.A.R.P. over it.

doesn't paulson look like Heinrich Himmler of the SS?

If the President wanted to say, be responsible he would have vetoed the thing and keep doing so until it was pork free. Although the damn thing is crap even sans pork.

Bush signed this fucker into law so quickly that you have to believe it is horribly flawed and unbelievably stupid.

Oh, and #15, Paulson looks much more like Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's no.2.

Bailout does nothing for the stock market nor working class americans who can't even afford to put money into the stock market because of record inflation.

I spoke to people who say that the US would have hit 40% unemployment with the bailout bill not being passed. Now that it is passed, I don't even know what impact it will have.

This was $700 billion down against over $2 trillion in lousy paper. The hope was that this would steady the credit markets so that the other $12 trillion in paper out there can hold up. But in the rosiest scenario, we're still stuck with trillions in crap and a business climate that is so de-leveraged and contracted out of fear and new rules, that we may not see any real growth for years and employers that will trim their payrolls to the bone. 9-10% unemployment is a real possibility and with the savings rate down to zero, we are talking about a lot of debt that has yet to turn bad. Employment is holding this tattered structure together. You lose enough jobs, there's nothing holding the tidewaters back.

Post a comment (Comment Policy)

Tips

Get your daily dose of New York first thing in the morning from our weekday newsletter, now in beta.

About Gothamist

Gothamist is a website about New York. More

Editor: Jen Chung
Publisher: Jake Dobkin

Newsmap

newsmap.jpg

Contribute

Latest Tip:

It's the same media that NEVER mentioned Muslims' hatred of Israel as a possible motive for 9/11.
[more]

Latest Photo:

Subscribe

Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from Gothamist.

All Our RSS

Follow us