Word: capitols
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...proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation's beleaguered financial markets has become a taffy pull between the Bush Administration and lawmakers from both parties. Many on Capitol Hill believe Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking too much unregulated cash and power in his effort to stabilize the economy by buying up toxic mortgage-backed securities. He's also asking Congress to lift the ceiling on the national debt to a record $11.3 trillion from the current $10.6 trillion, which could weaken the U.S. dollar, raise interest rates and act as an additional drag on the economy. All that money...
...Tuesday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on the bailout may not reassure anyone. Paulson argued that the Bush Administration's plan is "the single most effective thing we can do to help homeowners, the American people, and stimulate our economy." And he stressed that despite fears on Capitol Hill, he does believe there should be some oversight of the unprecedented bailout. But Democrat Chris Dodd of Connecticut declared, "It is not just our economy at risk but our Constitution as well," while ranking minority member Richard Shelby of Alabama, a vocal critic of the plan, said, "I have long opposed...
...Shelby is likely to oppose the plan, but much of its scrutiny on Capitol Hill is, in fact, Congress doing what Congress does, albeit on a massive, once-in-a-lifetime scale. On any given day on the Hill well-heeled lobbyists graft slivers of language onto obscure bills, language that ends up being worth huge amounts to their clients. This week the U.S. financial system is going to be reordered on a scale unseen since F.D.R., and everyone has an interest in that, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. In the massive bazaar of legislative...
...sure, there's no shortage of grousing on Capitol Hill on both sides of the aisle. Democrats are happy to paint Republicans and the Bush Administration as disproportionately interested in Wall Street fat cats. But the Dems also know that they can come out on top by passing, with some alterations, a plan that is fundamentally in line with their philosophical approach to government regulation of the market. Republicans, for their part, quietly hate the proposal but can't get in the way of it this close to an election. "They think the market's going to melt down...
...Thursday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told President Bush she'd keep the chamber in session longer if needed. It's also possible that the Treasury and the Fed could come up with an improvised solution that doesn't need congressional approval. Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke visited Capitol Hill Thursday night to talk over the possibilities, and Paulson said Friday that he would "spend the weekend working with members of Congress of both parties" to come up with legislation that he hoped to pass "over the next week." In the meantime, Treasury on Friday announced a $50 billion guarantee...