$700 Billion BAIL-OUT Legislation

The bills were introduced in the Senate by Phil Gramm (R-TX) and in the House of Representatives by James Leach (R-IA) and Thomas Bliley (R-VA). The bills were passed by a 54-44 vote largely along party lines with Republican support in the Senate[1] and by a 343-86 vote in the House of Representatives[2]. Nov 4, 1999: After passing both the Senate and House the bill was moved to a conference committee to work out the differences between the Senate and House versions. Democrats agreed to support the bill only after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act and address certain privacy concerns.[3]

The final bipartisan bill resolving the differences was passed in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 12, 1999. [4]

The banking industry had been seeking the repeal of Glass-Steagall since at least the 1980s. In 1987 the Congressional Research Service prepared a report which explored the case for preserving Glass-Steagall and the case against preserving the act.[5]

The banking industry had been seeking the repeal of Glass-Steagall since at least the 1980s. In 1987 the Congressional Research Service prepared a report which explored the case for preserving Glass-Steagall and the case against preserving the act.[5]

How did the politicians come up with that number, and could it go higher?

A. The recovery package cannot go higher than $700 billion without additional legislation. As for that figure, it lies between the optimistic estimate of $500 billion and the pessimistic guess of $1 trillion about the cost of fixing the financial mess. But the $700 billion is in addition to an $85 billion agreement on a bailout of the insurance giant American International Group, plus $29 billion in support that the government pledged in the marriage of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase. On top of all that, the Congressional Budget Office says the federal bailout of the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost $25 billion.

Graham on bailout negotiations: ‘You can’t phone something like this in.’

This morning on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for returning to Washington to help the bailout negotiations, saying his presence was vital to the negotiations:

John didn’t phone this one in. … You can’t phone something like this in. Thank God John came back.

Of course, though McCain made much of his rushing back to Washington after Friday’s debate, it turns out that he never went to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers stayed late working on the bailout. The New York Times reports that McCain was at his apartment “until 12:30 p.m. Saturday, when he emerged and made a one-minute trip in his motorcade to his campaign headquarters around the corner.” A McCain aide explained that “he can effectively do what he needs to do by phone.”

UPDATE: On ABC’s This Week today, McCain said, “I came back because I wasn’t going to phone it in.”

UPDATE II: Politico reports, “As his colleagues worked on the deal at the Capitol Saturday night, McCain and his wife, Cindy, dined with Sen. Joe Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, at Cafe Mozu inside Washington’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel.”

UPDATE III: The Washington Post has more details on McCain’s disengagement:

In the wake of Thursday’s “disaster,” McCain was no longer interested in remaining locked in negotiations. He spent only 90 minutes on Capitol Hill on Friday, most of it in conversations with House Republicans, trying to persuade them to rejoin talks with Democrats.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner was “really pissed,” said one participant in the meeting with McCain. Boehner felt as if he had been set up for an “assault” at the White House, the participant said.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/28/graham-phone/

The Paulson Plan
Bad News For The Bailout
Brian Wingfield and Josh Zumbrun 09.23.08, 6:39 PM ET

"The secretary and the administration need to know that what they have sent to us is not acceptable," says Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn. The committee's top Republican, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, says he's concerned about its cost and whether it will even work.

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Wow.

http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/09/23/bailout-paulson-congress-biz-beltway-cx_jz_bw_0923bailout.html

i seem to be the only fan of Paulson, so it goes.