Posted on 09/20/2008 10:17:51 AM PDT by Fox_Mulder77
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS
Section 1. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as ____________________.
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:
(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;
(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;
(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;
(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and
(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.
Sec. 3. Considerations.
In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for--
(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and
(2) protecting the taxpayer.
Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.
Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.
Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.
(a) Exercise of Rights.--The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.
(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.
(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.
(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.--The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.
Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.
The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time
Sec. 7. Funding.
For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.
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.
Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.
The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.
Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.
Sec. 11. Credit Reform.
The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.
Sec. 12. Definitions.
For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.
(2) Secretary.--The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.
(3) United States.--The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.
Isn't amazing how the left squeals like stuck pigs at the prospect of spending a few billion on the military, but giving away hundreds of billions on failed housing subsidy schemes is SOP!
Pure and unadulterated thievery.
Hmmmh! 700 billion - Isn’t that the same amount the democrats give to our enemies overseas when they refuse to drill for oil. The 700 billion bailout is tragic. I’d like to see those people who got loans they were incapable of paying, tossed out on their butts with their household belongings right behind them. Put a lot of those lawmakers?, lawyers snarks, ceo’s, mortgage officers, etc. in jail for a very long time. Its time to VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE!
I agree..... I can't help but feel this thing is taking us down a fascist road.... and how many congressmen have the fortitude to stand against this?!?
BINGO!
I believe it’s mainly the Democrats blocking the drilling. I say vote THEM out of office! It’s also mainly the Democrats robbing the Fannie/Freddie cookie jars and cooking the books. Vote THEM out and prosecute the thieves and bribe takers! Starting with Senator Dodd!
Fascism, pure and simple. This is not hyperbole. This needs to be killed with extreme prejudice. If this passes, I implore everyone to move ALL liquid assets OUT of America.
This is going to lead to thievery beyond any comprehension.
They need to release all of the convenience store and bank robbers right now. Why? Because the guys doing this will never see a jail and they are going to make off with every dime in America.
Further the government must now be assumed to be more corrupt than the government of Mexico.
I'm calling the Financial Services Committee Minority office first thing Monday morning to find out where the Republicans stand on this thing......
We need to keep this drumbeat up. This is not socialism. It is African style crony capitalism. The diseases of Norway and Denmark are not the diseases of Zimbabwe, Nigeria and the Congo.
The worst part of this is that we bail out one set of crooks and then hand the acquired assets over to another gang of wall street crooks who are engaged to act as "agents" of the government. The last thing these corrupt crooks want to do is to be put on civil service salaries.
I think McCain could assure his election IF from now to election day he screamed about about abolishing the 50-mile and ANWR restrictions.....I don’t think he will, though.
Chuck will get right on protecting us. Has he found a parking place for his Mercedes.
All this proves to me is that the banking system, as we know it, is dead and gone. If the federal gov’t needs the kind of power that designates private banks as “agents” for the federal government, then the reality of the situation is probably this:
1. The system has already blown up.
2. As long as “money” can circulate through the credit markets, institutions can remain standing on thin air while the government assimilates these institutions under their wing of “protection”. The gov’t will simply override the effects of a total collapse by discouraging panic and artificially injecting trust into the system.
3. But really, the banking system has effectively evaporated. At least that’s what this bill tells me. If it’s not gone, this is the greatest power grab of the executive branch since the CIvil War and the quality of our representative republican form of government just got downgraded like AIG.
IMO it is rapidly becoming advisable to have a horde of actual cash in the mattress, because the universe of possible October surprises is much wider than we think.
That's precisely what has happened.....
Not cash..... the value may drop and we may end up paying $100 for a candy bar....
These are the same people who brought us the IRS.
Uncle Sam: "And personally, I don't care!"
What a lousy failure this congress and white house has been.
Damn, I can't wait till Bush puts that pen down.
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