Legal Commentary

Agreement in Principle On Wall Street Bailout

By Big Tent Democrat

NYTimes:

House and Senate negotiators from both parties said Thursday that they had reached general agreement to move forward with the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion rescue effort of the nation’s financial system.

One plan under consideration would release $250 billion immediately, with another $100 billion available at the discretion of the president. . . . They also said that there would be limits on pay packages for executives whose firms seek assistance from the government and a mechanism for the government to be given an equity stake in some firms so that taxpayers have a chance to profit if the companies prosper in the months and years ahead.

More...

“We are giving the secretary authority that he will need in order to act and the funding that he will need,” Mr. Dodd said after the meeting, referring to the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr. “We also have dealt, I think effectively, with the issue of effective oversight, with homeownership preservation as well as with executive compensation.”

(Emphasis supplied.) If Dodd is right, the Democratic Congress has done its job.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 25, 2008 (boomark / email).