This is huge.


Brad Sherman (D-CA): The fact is, Larry, if you read the key provisions of this bill, you would have voted against it.  It provides hundreds of billions of dollars of bailout to foreign investors.  It provides no real control of [Henry] Paulson's power.  There is a critique board, but not really a board that can step in and change what he does.  It's a $700 billion dollar program run by a part-time, temporary employee, and there's no limit on million-dollar-a-month salaries....
Kudlow: Mr. Sherman, I appreciate your points of view.  Foreign investors, I think you are referring to foreign banks headquartered in the United States or essentially that are domiciled here.  I don't see how foreign investors get bailed out
Sherman: Larry, You've got to read the bill, it's very clear.  The bank of Shanghai can transfer all of its toxic assets to the Bank of Shanghai of Los Angeles, its subsidiary, which can sell them the next day to the Treasury.  I had a provision to say, wait a minute, if  it wasn't owned by an American entity, even a subsidiary, but at least an entity here in the United States, the Treasury can't buy it.  That's rejected.  The foreign markets are being told, they're getting money.[...]
Sherman: Paulson has made it very clear that he would recommend a veto of any bill that contained a clear provision that said that if Americans didn't own the asset on September 20, it can't be sold to the Treasury.  Hundreds of billions of dollars are going to bail out foreign investors.  They know it, they've demanded it, and the bill has been carefully written to make sure that can happen.

Quote:

Sec. 112. Coordination With Foreign Authorities and Central Banks. 

The Secretary shall coordinate, as appropriate, with foreign financial authorities and central banks to work toward the establishment of similar programs by such authorities and central banks. To the extent that such foreign financial authorities or banks hold troubled assets as a result of extending financing to financial institutions that have failed or defaulted on such financing, such troubled assets qualify for purchase under section 101.


Quote:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday that foreign banks will be able to unload bad financial assets under a $700 billion U.S. proposal aimed at restoring order during a devastating financial crisis.


"Yes, and they should. Because ... if a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution," Paulson said on ABC television's "This Week with George Stephanopolous."


Quote:

LONDON (AFP) — The United States has a responsibility to the world and not just itself to sort out its teetering economy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday.

But Brown, disappointed that US lawmakers have rejected a 700-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout plan, said it was not yet time to apportion blame for the global crisis.

"What people want to know is, on top of these problems, can we get under control ... these problems in the financial system," Brown told Sky News and BBC television.

"They started in America, they've got to be sorted out. I believe that the Americans have come to realise that they have a responsibility to the rest of the world as well as to themselves.

The congressman deliberately ignored a question by Kudlow to blow the whistle on this.  The bill is being voted on TOMORROW by the Senate, having been attached to the Alternative Minimum Tax bill to woo those House Republicans, then to be sent back to the House.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioHc80xKMiATnqCpK0cDKJzk_nPQD93HD3M80

***Update***  Second congressman to come forward with this!  Karl Denninger speaking below, but he has a clip of a radio interview of Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) by Mark Levin starting at 0:43:


Transcript:

DeMint: The core of the bill is: we give the Secretary of the Treasury $700 billion dollars to buy up bad loans all over the world.  It doesn't have to be a mortgage, it can be a car loan, it can be...
Mark Levin: Alright, stop right there, senator.  All over the world.
Demint: Sure.  And frankly, I believe all over the world is more the motivation than the local bank, because I think the... this is just my theory, so I'm not passing around as fact, but I think China and Saudi Arabia are holding a lot of these securitized mortgages, and I think they've basically said that they're not going to loan us any more money until we buy them back.

If you are outraged, CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES NOW OR EARLY TOMORROW.  THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME.  The bill has passed the Senate but it has not been voted on by the House.  Friday, the House votes!

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

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Comments:

LBrooke
Sep. 30, 2008 at 11:37 PM

reading this makes my blood boil. 

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jennyoh
Sep. 30, 2008 at 11:39 PM

THANK you for posting this.

The senate will be voting on the bill tomorrow, you can find & contact your senators via a web form by going HERE: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/ & then searching by your zip code in the top right hand corner. There is a web form you can fill out after clicking the tab that says "CONTACT" where you can selected "OPPOSE BAILOUT" -- It's so easy, everyone should do it.

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SlapI...
Sep. 30, 2008 at 11:47 PM

Absolutely sickening.  Thank you for the reminder to contact our representatives.

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Manic...
Sep. 30, 2008 at 11:56 PM

WAKE UP, MAMAS!!! THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!!!! DO NOT REMAIN SILENT!

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Jambo4
Oct. 1, 2008 at 12:33 AM

This whole thing reeks! 

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godzg...
Oct. 1, 2008 at 7:39 AM

Lets not forget Acorn! Sickening!

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Dr.Mo...
Oct. 1, 2008 at 8:21 AM

Thanks for the info. I've signed the petition and will contact my representative later today (although ours did vote down the first one). This is so wrong that it is hard to believe the we have to fight it, but we do.

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Vaill...
Oct. 1, 2008 at 8:56 AM

Already contacted them, but I've voted popular. Holding my breath for what may happen later today.

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Jeang...
Oct. 1, 2008 at 9:44 AM

Contacted them again!  We really need to push on this one, it's absolutely deceptive and we as Americans should be outraged!

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Eilish
Oct. 1, 2008 at 10:48 AM

Send them THIS Alternative Plan from Dave Ramsey:

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created 
an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new
debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen,
I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement
such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying
FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans
would have an instant market all over the world, creating
immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed
insurance, they must do two things:

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months
delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs
into the balance. This brings homeowners current and
allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage
refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan.
In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not
be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and
that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower�again limiting foreclosures and
ruined lives.

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE
CEOs and executive team members as long as the company
holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps
underperforming executives from being paid when they don�t
do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion�a small fraction
of the current proposal.




II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on
only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps
companies from being forced to artificially mark down
bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages
and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an
immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks�and
it costs the taxpayer nothing.




III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood
the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits,
creating tremendous�and immediate�liquidity in the markets.
Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because
many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit,
but it will be their money that stimulates the economy.
This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and
retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is
not a time for envy, and it�s not a time for politics. It�s time
for all of us, as Americans, to
stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

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