The other bailout billWith all the sound and fury around the failure of the Bush bailout bill and the stock market collapse, I see very little talk of the alternatives that are out there.
For example, two Bay Area representatives, Barbara Lee of Oakland and Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma, have their own bailout bill, supported by the Progressive Caucus. There's a good discussion of it at Calitics. The Lee-Woolsey bill includes a transaction tax on risky financial instruments and mortgage reform.
I wonder if the House will take that up next.
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Comments (2)
The alternative "bill" exists, as far as I know, in the form of a 3-page letter from Reps. Lee and Woolsey, and other signatories, to Speaker Pelosi. See snapshots here.
This alternative naturally appeals to the Redmondian impulse to stick it to the man under the guise of consumer protection. But it uses a Band-Aid to do a torniquet's job. This alternative does nothing to increase credit availability now. The now-defeated Paulson-Frank-Dodd plan, smelly as it is, at least had a chance to do that.
Concern about the currently locked-up credit market is not purely academic. The City of Oakland, for example, has only $10 million in reserves to cover its annual budget of (something like) $500 million. (See Mayor Dellums' 74-page review of the situation.) Any shortfall will have to be borrowed...and those markets are currently not available, at least at a worthwhile price. Time is of the essence to solve this problem, for Oakland and all other would-be borrowers out there.
Stick it to the man some other time.
Posted by Innocent Bystander | September 29, 2008 05:09 PM
The economy needs more credit, needs to take on more debt, now just like a junkie needs more junk.
There is no guarantee that these multinationals will take the bail out dollars and do anything remotely resembling adding liquidity for municipal debt, rather they will invest at the highest rate of returns, probably in commodities and probably offshore.
Now is the time for municipalities to create community serving banks rather than feed the pigs on Wall Street.
-marc
Posted by marc salomon | September 30, 2008 10:52 AM