Senate Passes "No Bank Left Behind" Act

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:44:06 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Not satisfied with the House's decision not to bail out the bankers, the Senate approved last night their own, slightly changed, and massively porked up, version of Poulson's $700 billion bailout.

It passed 76 to 24. You can see how your senators voted here.

The bill is H.R. 1424, "To amend section 712 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act, section 9812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment, and for other purposes."

"What has that to do with a bailout?" you might ask. And I answer you, "Nothing whatsoever!" You see, Article I, Section 7 of the US Constitution requires that "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills." So they took a random revenue-raising bill from the House, and amended it by completely replacing its text. Then, on the final page of the 451-page monstrosity, they retitled it to "To provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes."

The text of the "amendment" isn't in Thomas as I write this, but you can find a PDF here, on the Senate Banking Committee's web site.

The text of the first 113 pages of the Senate version pretty much matches the House version. They added a ban on golden parachutes, and, I think, a few other small things. Still $250 billion right away, $350 billion if the president asks nicely, and $700 billion if the president asks nicely and Congress doesn't say "No!" loudly enough (can't override a veto), to spend on anything Poulson "determines the purchase of which is necessary to promote financial market stability." Same toothless "oversight". For example, if an audit of TARP finds problems, one of the "corrective responses" is to "certify to appropriate committees of Congress that no action is necessary or appropriate." Narry a criminal penalty in sight.

Then they added two more bills, mostly unrelated, in an attempt to pork it up "for the taxpayers", likely to convince some legislators who may not had been suitably motivated before. On page 113 begins "Division B -- Energy Improvent and Extension Act of 2008", a bunch of tax incentives on carbon emissions reduction and alternative energy. On page 261 begins "Division C -- Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief", a whole bunch more random tax reductions, including, wait for it, "Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children."

Rumors are that the "amendment" won't be voted on in the House until Friday, no "martial law" being in affect any more, but Pelosi may decide to fast-track this one too.

Lying, thieving bastards! So, what else is new?

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