All aboard the bailout bandwagon? Hell, no! Link to bill added
Scroll for updates…Thanks to N.Z.Bear/Porkbusters for a link to the 108-page draft bill…updated version here…
It’s full steam ahead for the trillion-dollar-plus bailout boondoggle. Washington is euphoric.
If you didn’t already have a sick feeling in your stomach all week, the photos of the late-night press conference announcing that a tentative deal had been struck should make your innards churn:

As I’ve said throughout this past year of stimulus-palooza giveaways: God save us from bipartisanship.
Nothing is on paper yet. The ACORN funding provisions have reportedly been stripped. But God knows what Pelosi/Reid’s draft bill writers will slip into this behemoth before the day is over.
I’d refer you to a copy of the bill, but…there is none.
And there won’t be one for taxpayers to read and analyze for themselves before the bailout mob rushes to pass this unprecedented “rescue” of private industry on Monday. The Examiner has a side-by-side comparison of the broad terms of Paulson/Frank-Dodd/”Final Bill” plans.
Here’s what the WSJ reports:
Those present said the bailout plan still needs to be drafted in its final form, a process staff members were expected to continue throughout the night in what one aide called a “marathon drafting session” in Speaker Pelosi’s office just off the rotunda in the Capitol building. A formal announcement is scheduled for some time Sunday, though an exact time and location was not immediately available.
A summary of the tentative agreement released by Sen. Pelosi’s office said the plan “gives taxpayers an ownership stake and profit-making opportunities with participating companies; puts taxpayers first in line to recover assets if a participating company fails; (and) guarantees taxpayers are repaid in full — if other protections have not actually produced a profit.”
The $700 billion would be available in phases. The first $250 billion will be “immediately available” to the Treasury Secretary, and $100 billion available “upon report to Congress,” and $350 billion “available only upon Congressional action,” according to a summary from the office of House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R., Mo.), the No. 2 House Republican who was at negotiations.
A summary from Sen. Pelosi’s office said the final deal included “cutting in half the administration’s initial request for $700 billion and requiring Congressional review for any future commitment of taxpayers’ funds.”
Translation: Kabuki theater will occur before the next rubber stamping. Bottom line: No matter how you slice it, Paulson gets his $700 billion and more.
Reminder that the bailout allows foreign banks to partake of American taxpayer funding — and that the bailout plan includes buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other “troubled” assets held by banks.
Thanks to Pelosi, the bailout has expanded even further:
The Pelosi summary also said the legislation will expand the range of firms that can sell troubled assets to the government to include pension plans, local governments and community banks serving “low- and middle-income families.”
More goodies pushed by the Dems:
Other foreclosure-prevention measures include an extension of the tax holiday for homeowners who face foreclosure, as well as a tax break for community banks that held shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The rescue plan will allow affected banks to take an immediate tax deduction on losses from investments in the two firms, which were taken over by the federal government earlier this month.
Quoted in the NYTimes:
A senior administration official who participated in the talks said the deal was effectively done. “I know of no unresolved open issues for principals,” the official said.
“Principals” don’t include the people who will be paying for this beast.
How about this for an “unresolved open issue:”
Among the last sticking points was an unexpected and bitter fight over how to pay for any losses that taxpayers may experience after distressed debt has been purchased and resold.
Democrats had pushed for a fee on securities transactions, essentially a tax on financial firms, saying it was fitting that they contribute to the cost.
In the end, lawmakers and the administration opted to leave the decision to the next president, who must present a proposal to Congress to pay for any losses.
Translation: Kick the can.
Conservative stalwart Sen. Richard Shelby isn’t playing:
Some lawmakers have made clear that they will not vote for the bailout plan under virtually any terms. “I didn’t want to be in the negotiations because I object to the basic principles of this,” said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee who would normally be his party’s point man.
Pressed about his role, Shelby replied, “My position is ‘No.’ “
For your wallet’s sake, and your children’s wallets’ sake, pray that Shelby is not alone.
***
Question: Who’s up for a filibuster?

***
Ed Morrissey publishes a “Myths vs. Facts” sheet from a House GOP source.
I’m waiting for the bill.
***
Tom Blumer at BizzyBlog smells blackmail.
Update 4:01pm Eastern…The 108-page draft bill is now available here thanks to N.Z. Bear and Porkbusters…reading now…
Update: The “fast-track” devil in the details.
Update: Most recent version of the bill here.
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Trackbacks
- The Bailout: We Have A Deal?? « Bob’s Bites
- A Small Corner of Sanity - An Online Oasis for Conservative Thought
- The Last 20 Minutes In The Bail Out Movie | Bitter Knitter
- All aboard the bailout bandwagon? Hell, no! « Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian
- When You’re Smilin… | sassafrassin.com
- Plains Feeder: Legislate in haste, regret at leisure
- Plains Feeder: Legislate in haste, regret at leisure
- The Other McCain: Bailout deal reached
- Bailout Deal Reached? | Jeffrey A. Setaro
- (video) Fannie Mae CEO Calls Black Caucus “The Conscience Of Fannie Mae” | BigMouthFrog
- OpenMarket.org » Archive » Bailout Gets More Costly Due to “Bipartisan” Deal; Foolish Limits on Foreclosure Should Be Removed
- Michelle Malkin » Kill the bailout: The “fast track” devil in the details
- David’s Blog of Common Sense » Bail Out Bill Draft
- Bailout Deal Reached With ACORN, And Other Pork Removed | Right Voices
- Media Mythbusters Blog » Blog Archive » Senate Sends $634 Billion Spending Bill to Bush
- The Bailout Fiasco | Axis of Right
- Common Sense Journal » Blog Archive » Bailout Bill is a Socialist, Irresponsible Sham
- BizzyBlog » Hank Paulson’s Blackmail? (Bernanke, Too?)
- Hoping there’s hope « Right Minded Online
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And once again, no retort to the Dems. No mention of the Democratic Community Reinvestment Act which led to the crisis. No mention of the Bush and McCain efforts to rein in Freddie and Fannie. No mention of the huge earmark for ACORN in the first draft. Lukewarm support for McCain. The Repubs have lost passion, stopped fighting and are handing the election to “the One”. If they are counting on the VP debate to boost their numbers, that is a huge gamble. As much as I like Palin, her recent performances in interviews left a lot to be desired. If she even gets close to saying “I’ll have to get back to you on that”, she will vindicate the terrible things liberal media and liberal feminisys have been saying about her. The Repubs better have one helluva “October Surpise” or this contest is over. (sigh)
I’m late to this party. Listening to all of you makes me a feel a lot better about our nation’s prospects – a few of you scare me
As for “edelweiss”. Perhaps the moderator has already squelched this one, but he/she is either a troll or an idiot. Either way, they are a boil… stop picking at it.
A lot of you are talking revolution. I agree that this government MUST go, but how many of you REALLY believe that this one is the BIG one?
I can see this unwinding into hyperinflation. Our free nation is gone, replaced by a nationalistic/socialistic regime. That said, I will point out that this nation was more socialist in the 70s that it was post-Reagan (socialized airlines, regulated energy, regulated banking, etc.). I don’t think we’ll see the supermarkets go empty tomorrow.
Thoughts?
It is a CROCK!
The Acorn language is out PER SE, but on page 25, Section 109, the Secretary has wide lattitude to use a number of mitigations and groups “or other available programs to minimize foreclosures.” !!!!! It goes on for 4 pages!!!
The New GREAT Society Boondoggle. Kill It !!!
Looks like Bush’s legacy will be that he thought he could spread democracy to Iraq but he couldn’t even make it work in America. He drove America into the hands of the Socialists.
Although he seemd to start off strong, as time passes he’s looking more and more like a RINO himself and he sure turned out to be a disappointment!
Bush will go down in history as the first socialist president of the United States. We were so worried about socialists like Gore and Kerry that we twice elected a RINO who turned out to be as much of a socialist as Gore or Kerry.
November 2008 will only determine the ethnicity of the second socialist president of the United States.
The great experiment in Freedom has been betrayed. We did it to ourselves.