What I think of the bill. and those that voted for it. > * Senate 'Bailout' Bill a Bizarre Blend Indeed By Marc > Sheppard<http://www.americanthinker.com/marc_sheppard/> > Call it what you will, but the $700,000,000,000 credit rescue Bill that > passed the Senate last night is one strange piece of lawmaking. Take one > part Monday's failed H.R. 3997 and soften it to liberal pleasure. Now add it > to a mental health parity measure that's languished on Capitol Hill so long > it's got Paul Wellstone's name in its main title. Add a one-year patch to > the alternative minimum tax, a dash of disaster relief for Hurricane Ike > victims, and a green energy Bill that might well have otherwise been adorned > with veto ink - now stir well, and Voilà! > > The "bailout plan" itself, H.R. > 5685<http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/latestversionAYO08C32_xml.pdf>(the > Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) , is being bundled as an > amendment to > H.R.1424<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-1424>, > a Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) Bill that modifies sections of the Employee > Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 "to require equity in the provision > of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health > plans." The pure perfection of their fit is surely undeniable to all but the > most cynical. > > According to the Library of > Congress<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01424:@@@L&summ2=m&;>, > the Kennedy Bill passed the House and was received in the Senate in March of > this year. Oddly enough, Wednesday was the first time it was ever brought > to the Senate floor for consideration. > > The new Bill also snuck in Charlie Rangel's (D-NY) H.R. > 6049<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6049>(the Energy > Improvement and Extension Act of 2008) > <http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-6049>which had > already added the 'Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of > 2008'' in addition to "Heartland and Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief" to its > broadly green legislation. Simpatico measures, to be sure. > > Rangel's Bill had passed both houses -- the Senate just last month -- but > had been awaiting President Bush's signature, which, according to a Statement > of Administration > Policy<http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=77353>, > was far from a slam dunk. The Bill includes a hodgepodge of green > initiatives, including a "Carbon Audit of the Tax Code" which states that: > > "The Secretary of the Treasury shall enter into an agreement with the > National Academy of Sciences to undertake a comprehensive review of the > Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to identify the types of and specific tax > provisions that have the largest effects on carbon and other greenhouse gas > emissions and to estimate the magnitude of those effects." > > > Apropos indeed. > > As to the "bailout" provisions themselves, in addition to establishing the > "Troubled Asset Relief Program ('TARP') to purchase troubled assets from > financial institutions," the Senate version "raises the debt ceiling from > $10 trillion to $11.3 trillion" and adds a number of sections the left had > been insisting on. These include foreclosure mitigation efforts, executive > compensation and corporate governance, and recoupment from the financial > industry of losses to the taxpayer. Additionally, the FDIC insurance limit > would be temporarily increased to $250,000. > > This strange amalgam was passed by the Senate last night 74-25. It now > moves back to the House, for consideration today, where opportunists get > another shot at marking it up further with extraneous pet-projects at the > bargaining table. > > There was genuine concern voiced that provisions added to appease the left > might send congressmen on the right who voted "Aye" on Monday running for > the hills on Friday. > > There were similar concerns expressed about the reverse dilemma arising. > > But if there was any real give on the part of Senate Democrats in modifying > this "emergency" Bill, it sure as hell escapes me. > > What a mess. > > Marc Sheppard is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and welcomes > your comments <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > > Page Printed from: > http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/senate_bailout_bill_a_bizarre.html > at October 02, 2008 - 09:41:02 AM EDT > * > > > >
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