Bail-Out Roundup

The major elements:

• $700 billion will be delivered to Treasury in three installments.
• Top officials at heavily bailed-out firms will be denied “golden parachutes.”
• Federal government will be able to get back money spent on executive bonuses based on fraudulent profit claims.
• The feds will have to come up with a plan to reimburse taxpayers for the cost of the bail-out.

Personal responsibility is for Main Street, not Wall Street:

This bail-out of such massive proportions that it actually (not virtually, not euphemistically, not metaphorically) is the largest single non-defense expenditure ever is about to pass into law, and hence history.

Our Employees, the alleged “representatives” that we pay to go to Washington to be wined and dined by lobbyists, get phenomenal health benefits not available to you and me, and other unimaginable perks are about to give away Hundreds of Billions of dollars to salvage a mess on Wall Street that was foreseen by many, many folks for several years. …

Five good reasons for Congress to oppose this “compromise”:

1. It’s fiscally irresponsible
2. Experts on both the left and right warn the bail-out could worsen the problem.
3. There’s gotta be a better way — and there are several.
4. For incumbents, a vote for this plan is political suicide.
5. Many of the individuals supporting this bail-out stand to benefit from it, enormously.

On that last one, like Warren Buffett, who “is simultaneously advising Obama to support the deal, while he himself is investing in the company that stands to make the most off the deal.”

Deb Cupples at Buck Naked Politics says that Wall Street is suckering Congress with a time-honored sales technique:

We ordinary taxpayers are outraged by the Bush Administration’s attempt to funnel 700+ billion tax dollars into the pockets of Wall Street executives who helped drive our nation’s economy toward the cliff’s edge.

both parties’ congressional leaders reportedly came to a tentative agreement regarding the bailout plan. Instead of appropriating $700+ billion now, they’ve agreed to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson $250 billion now, $100 billion later (if the White House certifies the need — whatever that means), and another $350 billion if Congress feels generous.

It’s the oldest sales technique in the book, called “Door in the Face.”

Simply put, the Door in the Face Technique entails a salesman’s offering a product at an outrageously huge price — knowing that the potential sucker will likely slam the door in the salesman’s face.

Then, the salesman comes back and tries to sell the product at a lower price — expecting the sucker to feel relieved (perhaps falsely)  by the lower price.

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