Paulson on the Bailout: A Trillion Here, A Trillion Now

The Bush administration has asked for $700 billion over the next two years to buy up the bad debt of the many regular banks, investment banks, insurance companies, and other entities who have goofed up the economy. I wouldn't be surprised if that turned into a trillion before everything is done.

Of course, everybody on the left, right, and in the middle recognizes the need for some form of system remedy for the crisis that's enveloped the financial sector. Whites get it. Blacks get it. So do Republicans and Democrats, the young and old, and rich and poor. Everybody gets it. I think I even hear one of the Caric family cats meowing about "comprehensive solutions."

America has achieved the kind of consensus that hasn't been seen since 9-11.

But the Bush administration is still managing to turn the Wall Street Rescue Plan into a partisan exercise.

That's because they insist on just handing over $700 billion to Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson to spend as he sees fit. The three page bill defines the Secretary of Treasury's breathtaking new powers in two brief little clauses.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets

(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by
the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its
headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

That's it. There's no oversight, no process for evaluation and dispersement of money, no requirements to meet for the companies that get the money. The Secretary of Treasury has complete discretion from which there is no appeal of any sort.

Sec. 8. Review.

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.

In other words, the Secretary of Treasury wants to be able to play with $700 billion without any kind of checks and balances.

And the Secretary doesn't want his authority tainted by any measures that the Democrats would want that would create oversight structures, help homebuyers or hold the financial executives who created the crisis.

As the Bush administration puts it, they want a "clean bill" that only includes what they want.

And they want it now.

Perhaps they should try this slogan--"A Trillion Here, A Trillion Now."