Never fear! Harry Reid will find a way to fuck this up too.

f*ck Bush, he’s f*cked US

Bush will lie and let Paulson give the money to friends just like the first round. No way this is good faith. No way.

Dugg Right Here!

I suppose congress wrote or approved original wording which would tie their own hands like this at a later date. If so, the very fact they gave this kind of veto power to the president speaks volumes.

Back when they first proposed I heard this joke……

A bunch of Bushies are having a weekend away, playing cards and drinking…. one says…. “what if we can get it all”…..another….. “all what?”……. “All the money?” and they cooked up the idea of the EMERGENCY super secret without any over site and regulation Bail Out…….

Well now they are going for ALL of it…..

OT – gawd, Shuster just crucified the guy who’s producing the “Sarah Palin Got Screwed by the Media” film.

(that may not be the exact title of the documentary)

Now there’s some shrew rah-rah’ing torture.

blergh.

I don’t know why they are doing it this way. Perhaps it is a gift to the Obama Administration. Perhaps it is a recognition that Giethner and Summers are really not so different in their approach than Paulson.

John Ziegler.

The NewsHour has an Israeli spokesman on doing his own Big Lie about how very, very careful Israel has been in its massive shootup of Gaza.

By the way, the WaPo continues to update the story. The latest version (same link as in the post) includes this new paragraph:

The initiative, if it goes ahead, could create an unusual political straddle between the Bush and Obama administrations. If Congress were to vote down the measure, either President Bush or Obama might have to exercise a veto in order to get the money. While Obama officials prefer that current administration issue a veto, the White House is declining to address that question.

Part of W’s being gracious to the new Administration…I doubt.

Hmmmm. Could it be that with 10 days left to go, the Bushites have finally decided it’s okay to do something for the good of the country?

You are an optimist my guess is that another bank, hedgefund or maybe a car company is going to file for bankruptcy and if they do the bankruptcy will happen during Bush’s term.
This failure will tank the Dow even more and probably lower the unemployment rate.
Otherwise why would Bush increase the National Debt on his watch and tarnish his legacy further?

Interesting that this is occurring now that TPM is reporting Geitner’s efforts to revamp that whole TARP program.

Evidently, not to Bu$hCheney’s taste?

That should be a post all by itself.

As if.

OPEN ALL THE PRISON GATES…
the biggest crimminals are all on the outside of course
Martha Stewart vs Bernie Madoff….

down payment on the price of not criminalizing policy differences?

Dear President Obama,
I have left you a few parting gifts
1) A new china set valued at $ 500K
2) A new fleet of helicopters price unknown delivery date unknown
3) $ 350 billion to do with as you please (I sure did)
4) 1 country totally fucked (good luck with that)
My best
GWB
255 hrs & 50 min

Washington Week on and the participants are vying with each other in their general cluelessness about Obama’s stimulus.

Hmmmm. Could it be that with 10 days left to go, the Bushites have finally decided it’s okay to do something for the good of the country?

no

Or do they have some ulterior motive (as usual)?

yes

if obama is party to these theatrics they are playing him plain and simple;

congress should simply filibuster the bill and not allow bush anywhere near these funds

Umm, I’m confused here. Is there some special language in the TARP bill? I don’t understand what there would be to veto – a veto keeps a law passed by Congress from becoming law. It’s a way of saying “no.” Right? How does a pres veto a “no” from Congress?

Can someone explain how this would work? Sorry if I’m just being stupid?

Manuver they must.

katymine@6— That’s supposed to be a joke? What I’d assumed they were up to all along, and then were amazed at how easily they got it.

As to a possibly big pending collapse to be bailed out, there had been rumors about the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, which I passed on last night; on rechecking just now I see that those rumors have not panned out for now.

Did Limpball ask his ditto heads to call in and show how smart they are?

ROFL!

John Dean is pointing out on KO that a lot of foreign prosecutors have dropped hints that they will investigate Bush for warcrimes if we don’t.
And just how embarrassing that would be.
….I expect the Right Wing to explode on this one. Expect a wave of GOP paid trolls to plague us.

That would automatically allow Obama access to the money since Congress has two options a) allow the administration access to the money automatically after fifteen days or b) vote to block transfer within fifteen days.
255 hrs & 43 min

Sorry, not good a telling jokes…… Bushies have planned it all from the start….. rape, pillage and loot and leave us serf’s with nothing but the ruins….. while they laugh on the beach in some country that doesn’t have extradition…..

The way the original bill was written if the president requests the money he will automatically receive it after fifteen days unless congress passes a bill saying no. The pres can then veto the bill saying no. At this point congress would have to override the veto to prevent the pres from getting the money. 255 hrs & 38 min

Thanks. It does seem weird, though, doesn’t it?
But, of course, the whole idea is weird.

The way the law is written is that if the Administration asks for the money, the money can only stop it if it passes a joint resolution. But this resolution can be vetoed by the President. Then you need override majorities to sustain the Congressional denial. The Congress wrote it into the bill this way. I wrote at the time how bogus I thought this was in terms of Congressional “oversight”.

Yes, there’s special language in TARP: the President asks for the next installment of the money and the Congress has 15 days to say “No!” If they say “No,” the president can veto their “No” vote, which could be overridden only by a 2/3rds vote of both houses.

Would a Bush veto not overridden by Congress after he’s out of office still have validity? Probably.

Not stupid. It’s quite convoluted compared to the usual procedure. From the post:

Unless Congress passes a resolution rejecting the request within 15 days, the Treasury can begin to tap the funds. If Congress does turn down the request, the president could veto the resolution and then the Treasury could proceed.

So if I get this, under the TARP bill the executive’s request is just a kind of courtesy, “we thought you might like to know” sort of thing. Under the law, they can still spend the money if Congress demurrs by way of a “we really think you hadn’t ought” resolution —not legislation, note— at the cost of vetoing the thing.

Your Constitution at work.

Community is wonderful, isn’t it?

dakine’s up
I am Unemployed. . . but Not a Statistic

When the fifteen day deadline comes Obama will have been pres for four days. It would be up to Obama to veto.
255 hrs & 29 min

color me cynical, but this reeks. Any chance this money has already been legally committed (or heaven forfend, spent) and the administration is trying to force a back door ratification. i.e. the Obama administration “gets” the money but it’s effectively already gone and the O admin holds the bag.

I have heard that Paulson committed ten billion of it but think that Obama could fight it if he should so chose>
255 hrs & 22 min

If foreign prosecutors investigate Bush for war crimes you’ll see a bunch more of that bi-partisanship that’s suddenly so in style. In fact, I’d bet Reid and Pelosi would be leading the condemnations.

Yeah, that part contributed to my not getting it-what’s the point? Thanks

So if I get this, under the TARP bill the executive’s request is just a kind of courtesy, “we thought you might like to know” sort of thing. Under the law, they can still spend the money if Congress demurrs by way of a “we really think you hadn’t ought” resolution —not legislation, note— at the cost of vetoing the thing.

And yes, community is wonderful, especially this one. I’m theoretically smart, having an advanced degree and all, but I understand so much more since finding FDL (and some others), and getting the benefit of others’ expertise and points of view. It’s kind of like a wonderful study (huge) group for the real world. *g*

Seems to me common sense requires that any assent to the actual release should be conditioned on some form of accounting for the phase 1 funds.

Of course, that’s the kind of requirement the original act was drafted to avoid, particularly the 15 day auto kick-in and the omnipresent veto threat.

But if congress had balls, it could give conditional approval subject only to disclosure of what has already been done and shift the burden of obstruction appearances.. Kinda embarrassing for Bush to veto something that only required disclosure. Also embarrassing to suggest no after the fact accounting will ever be made.

Petty til the very tacky end. How nice we will have him back in TX. How sad a fine University will have the lib’ary for a war criminal. Heartbreaking.

So when is Paulson gone? Is this a situation where institutional memory will evaporate and short of drawn out subpoena-hearing wars, we will never know what happened to the money — a la the CPA?

Fogs of the economic crisis….

I am not sure that you would want to saddle Obama with the sins of the Bush administration cabal. Bring Paulson and Cash&carry in make them disclose where our money went. If they fail to do so lock their asses up. My ex, a former AUSA used to say they have the keys to the cell. Let them disclose.
254 hrs & 33 min

So let me get this straight:Bush can’t account for the first 350 billion so now the congress is going to give ‘em the 2nd 350 bil ?makes sense doesn’t? F..king the American Taxpayers is more fun the 2nd time around.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, who’s job it is to make sure the Treasury Dept. does the right things with our $700 Billion, issued its second report on this bailout yesterday. AMAZINGLY, Treasury can’t account for how the money is used, what their strategy is or what the underlying problems are. They wont answer the questions put forth by those overseeing Treasury’s activities! What the … Folks, I think we can wait a week for the additional $300 Billion? See: Global Investment Watch’s post at http://globalinvestmentwatch.c…..t-talking/