Posted on 10/01/2008 9:38:49 AM PDT by fightinJAG
The purpose of this thread is to provide an organized venue for freepers who wish to read the draft Senate Bailout Bill (Son of Paulson bill) and provide analysis.
I will start a thread for blocks of sections, breaking the bill down into manageable chunks.
Several posters have already noticed several tax increases in the bill. It would be helpful to note them.
Apparently- these were already underway in various bills- they would have been passed regardless-
Subject: RE: earmarks [Rich Lowry]
A friend on the Hill e-mails:
Those “earmarks” (none of them are spending, they are all tax relief) are not part of the underlying economic recovery bill; they’re part of the tax relief bill that will be attached to the economic rescue bill. The same tax relief bill, by the way, that the Senate passed 93-2 (two Democrats, Carper and Conrad, were the only ‘no’ votes) a couple weeks ago with the same, exact provisions and that the House refused to take up because it didn’t raise taxes to “pay for” the tax relief. Here’s the Senate roll call.
Also, those provisions, while providing tax relief, have not been defined as fitting the guidelines of a “limited tax benefit.” And I don’t recall a single person objecting to the bill or defining any earmarks in the bill when it passed the Senate with the vote of every Republican (and all but two Democrats) that was present for the vote.
10/01 12:00 PM
..
Subject: Information on Senate Tax Extenders Bill [Rich Lowry]
This information is being passed around the Hill:
As you know, and since a number of offices have asked for more details, the Senate is attaching the Treasury bailout to the AMT patch/tax extenders bill (H.R. 6049) that passed the Senate 93-2 last week. Note that this language contains far more tax relief than tax increases (i.e., it is a net tax cut by tens of billions of dollars). Americans for Tax Reform remained silent on the Senate-passed extenders bill and said it was NOT a taxpayer pledge violation. The tax extenders section contains such things as:
One-year AMT “patch” that passed the House last week;
About $15 billion over ten years in alternative energy tax extensions;
About $42 billion in (mostly) two-year extensions of various non-energy tax provisions (research and development, state and local sales tax, etc.);
Mental health parity language that passed the House last week;
About $8 billion over ten years in disaster tax relief that passed the House last week; and
Nearly $42 billion in tax increases over ten years on oil and gas production, unemployment insurance, and investment income.
According to the Senate Steering Committee, the legislation also contains a number of provisions that may be construed as “tax earmarks.”…
10/01 12:13 PM
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS---NO PORK PERIOD.
Do NOT legislate a bailout with PORK and SWEETENERS for a select few connected insiders. Americans demand a c-l-e-a-n bill to resolve the problem. Americans DEMAND to see the bill before any votes are taken. Americans demand the bill be widely publicized via print and broadcast media....... and on the i-net.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
It is an outrage that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are still fronting the bill. Americans are appalled to see the same old insiders salivating to grab a piece of the action for themselves and their cronies. Remove Frank and Dodd now. If Frank and Dodd are not removed, America cannot trust the government to do the right thing. - NO BILL if Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd are not removed.
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Capital Hill toll free :
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Bank of America may have mapped the way out of the financial abyss via the way they constructed the Countrywide Financial deal.
According to 2007 news reports, the consensus is that Bank of America's $2 billion resurrection of Countrywide Financial seems to have locked in a hefty profit for BofA. BofA's investment allowed it to use less than 10 percent of its 2006 net income to buy a convertible preferred security that becomes stock at $18.
C/W shares later closed at $22.02, locking in a $4.02 gain, or more than $700 million, for BofA. BofA will also get a junk-bond-like 7.25% dividend annually while C/W attempts to weather the subprime crisis.
Strategically, the deal boils down to what is termed a "rent-to-own" strategy for BofA, which will control about 16% Countrywide's stock upon conversion. The deal also affords BofA the right of first refusal if other potential suitors emerge.
Analysts pointed out, the deal is an "investment" for BofA, affording it the opportunity to avoid the "inevitable earnings volatility" that Countrywide faces going forward.
C/W long-term woes go on.......and well they should.
BofA's cash gives C/W a little breathing room, but not much else.
According to news reports, C/W may be on the hook to investors who bought its securitized loans bearing repurchase obligations, which force the company to buy troubled loans back at face value (if a homeowner defaults).
The agreements cover about $122B in outstanding loans (C/W has not indicated how much they agreed to repurchase). Some loans are now valued at fifty cents on the dollar, or less.
S&P and Moody's negative credit outlook continues........C/W remains shut out of short-term financing marts.
Means C/W has to borrow at higher interest rates with more restrictions ..... forces lender to carry much of the more than $1 billion a day in loans it originates on its balance sheet, leading to increased financial risk.
NOTE There's talk of Uncle Sam taking over subprime mortgages and offering them on the market as “rent to buy” properties.
“Apparently- these were already underway in various bills- they would have been passed regardless-:
Not the point. Dear Leader McCain made a promise to not support earmarks. He said he would veto them. If he votes for this he is breaking a campaign promise before he is even elected.
I emailed and called his office and campaign. Everybody should.
The bill is available at http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2008/10/01/senaterescue.pdf
I’ve been skimming through parts of it. The amount of PORK in this bill is INCREDIBLE!
SEC. 117. CARBON AUDIT OF THE TAX CODE ?!?!
Absolutely- and his office has already heard from me too.
He’ll have an excuse for voting for it- crisis and all that.
The panic buttons are being pushed harder - it’s tough to differentiate between the speeches of these two on the bailout.
SEC. 45Q. CREDIT FOR CARBON DIOXIDE SEQUESTRATION ??
SEC. 116. CERTAIN INCOME AND GAINS RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL SOURCE CARBON DIOXIDE TREATED AS QUALIFYING INCOME FOR PUBLICLY TRADED PARTNERSHIPS ??
I’m visualizing Al Gore masturbating furiously over the text of this bill.
There is a thread for all the sections in the bill, so freepers can read the portions that interest them and provide analysis.
This will take a while to get rolling, because posters have to have time to actually read the sections and think about them. But any insights that are generated will be helpful, I think.
Making carbon sequestration eligible for tax credits.
I expect nothing less from McCain.
We will have amnesty, we will have a bailout, we will have carbon taxes, and it will all be delivered under the banner of conservatism and of the Republican Party.
But hey, at least we kept that nasty boogeyman Obama away from The White House! /sarc
Thanks, I’ll skip to Title III and confine myself to that.
Dear Leader McCain promised not to support earmarks and said he would veto them. If he votes for this bill he is breaking a campaign promise before he is even elected.
Email and call McC's Senate office, his campaign office, and the RNC.
===================================================
Capital Hill toll free :
800-965-4701 ----- 800-828-0498 ------ 888-802-1207
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202-224-3121.
Republican National Committee
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Washington, D.C. 20003
EMAIL Chairman@gop.com
TELE 202-863-8700
FAX: 202-863-8820
Sickening, isn't it?
And this is the bill that McCain supports. Hey, folks, let's be practical and support this bill too!
I can’t get over all the knee-jerk pitchforkers confusing tax credits or even tax cuts to “pork”. isn’t that what liberals do?
Aren’t these add-ons (tax breaks all) things our side should cheer for?
This Senate Bill is 100% BULLSH*T!
The higher limit for insured bank deposits sought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which asked to raise the cap to $250,000 from $100,000, to quell opposition by individual and small-business depositors.
Tax breaks for businesses and alternative energy, part of a package that has been caught in a stalemate in the House of Representatives. The Senate version of the gridlocked tax legislation would cost more than $100 billion and extend and expand many individual and business tax breaks, including tax credits for the production and use of renewable energy sources, like solar energy and wind power, the Times said.
It would also extend the business tax credit for research and development, expand the child tax credit, protect millions of families from the alternative minimum tax and provide tax relief to victims of recent floods, tornadoes and severe storms, according to the Times..
Now WTF does any of that have to do with the Banking and Wall Street problems. Answer: N-O-T-H-I-N-G. And it sure won't help a small business get a loan next week to meet a payroll. Or John Doe get a car loan.
If this pos gets to the House it should be rejected outright by every Republican.
(c) SALE OF TROUBLED ASSETS.—The Secretary 11 may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at a 12 price determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into secu13 rities loans, repurchase transactions, or other financial 14 transactions in regard to, any troubled asset purchased 15 under this Act.
McCain and the Senate are going to set the Treasury Secretary up in a manner a Soviet Commisar could only have dreamed of.
Then there's this:
SEC. 111. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND CORPORATE 19 GOVERNANCE.
20 (a) APPLICABILITY.—Any financial institution that 21 sells troubled assets to the Secretary under this Act shall 22 be subject to the executive compensation requirements of 23 subsections (b) and (c) and the provisions under the Inter24 nal Revenue Code of 1986, as provided under the amend25 ment by section 302, as applicable.
Government wage controls. Just lovely.
And this bit of pork:
SEC. 102. PRODUCTION CREDIT FOR ELECTRICITY PRO DUCED FROM MARINE RENEWABLES.
and this:
SEC. 104. ENERGY CREDIT FOR SMALL WIND PROPERTY.
and this:
SEC. 105. ENERGY CREDIT FOR GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS. And there's a Tax Increase in it:
SEC. 113. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN COAL EXCISE TAX; FUNDING OF BLACK LUNG DISABILITY TRUST FUND.
Yep. Right there in Section 113. A bit fat Tax increase on coal.
And this little gem:
SEC. 117. CARBON AUDIT OF THE TAX CODE.
A carbon audit? Are these people INSANE????
If McCain supports this piece of garbage I'll not just stay home on Election day, I'll vote a third party.
L
“Apparently- these were already underway in various bills- they would have been passed regardless-:
-- Not the point. Dear Leader McCain made a promise to not support earmarks. --
Couple of points (I know, you didn't make both of the above comments, I'm just riffing off both of them). H.R.6049, the energy tax extenders and other stuff in H.R.6049 would NOT have passed the House. The House leadership was going to ignore it.
Second, the objectionable material in H.R.6049 is technically NOT a mess of earmarks. Earmarks are precise allocations of funds under more broad authorization measures, where the narrow allocation is done directly at the behest of a Congressman. A typical earmark is inserted in conference committee, without debate - then passed as part of a conference report. The stuff in H.R.6049 has been in there without the bill ever going to conference.
Now, you may disagree, and decide that those clauses represent earmarks, but Senator McCain would disagree. He may agree they are wasteful, he may agree they are not required, but he's not likely to label them "earmarks."
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