Sunday, September 21, 2008

We can start calling it the "Bush bailout"

Yves Smith, in a long piece titled "Why You Should Hate the Treasury Bailout Proposal", points out this lovely section of the bailout legislation:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Economist critics of the plan include Roubini, Krugman, Cowen, Mankiw, Zingales...that spans the spectrum, and I could go on.

4 comments:

Smiff said...

I can't say I completely understand what happened on Wall Street in the last week, but i know this: if it's a Bush/Cheney idea, it's a bad idea. And if Bill Kristol comes out for the bailout, it might be the worst idea ever.

Jason said...

Obie's on the case...

Obama said in a statement that in return for the $700 billion ``the American people must be assured that the deal reflects some basic principles.''

He said Democrats will insist on oversight, and a structure most likely to recoup any government expenditures. Democrats should also demand that other countries participate in securing financial markets, he said.

Corms said...

What would a Bush/Cheney law be without a provision obliterating the concept of checks and balances?

Jason said...

Kristol: "I’ve been shocked by the number of (mostly conservative) experts I’ve spoken with who aren’t at all confident that the Bush administration has even the basics right..."

WHAT?! Experts think the Bush administration has the basics wrong?! The shock!