He might have lowered your taxes...

[sup-rbeast]

But now you're about to get to pay it back...in spades. Now aren't ya glad ya didn't get to invest your Social Security????

<span style='font-size: 14pt'>
After the Financial Crisis, a Clean-Up That Changes Everything</span>
By Michael Duffy Monday, Sep. 22, 2008

The dominoes fell one right after the other: the demise of Lehman Brothers tipping into the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America followed by the federal takeover of AIG. Then, the desperate credit crunch of Wednesday caused the emergency maneuvering by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury on Thursday and Friday.

In a week, the financial crisis of 2008 changed everything "? and now comes the cleanup: if the administration's $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan is approved by Congress, the United States will see changes to its political economy that were unimaginable a week ago.

Among them:
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>
A massive transfer of power to the Treasury Department.</span>
Secretary Henry Paulson is requesting unprecedented powers to resolve and dispose of billions of dollars of mortgages and mortgage backed securities that will turn the feds into the liquidator of last resort for business deals gone bad. Those powers, should Congress grant them, would come on top of authority Paulson was quietly granted earlier this summer to resolve the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac messes. And the federal fire sale may not be limited to problem portfolios at home; there are reports that some of those entities subject to Treasury's purchase-and-resale powers may be foreign.

<span style='font-size: 14pt'>A sudden shift in taxpayer's financial priorities.
</span>To put the bailout plan, in some kind of perspective, Paulson would rule over a pile of assets that exceeds the annual Pentagon budget of $507 billion by nearly 50 percent. For at least the next year, and perhaps for years after, Treasury's spending authority will make it harder for the next President to fulfill campaign promises and pump money into new priorities. Depending on how Paulson's power is structured, it could even postpone new federal spending on health care reform, infrastructure improvements or hasten the need for increased taxes and deep spending cuts. A similar challenge faced incoming President George Herbert Walker Bush in 1989 when his administration had to oversee a $100 billion cleanup of poorly regulated savings and loans that were weakened or simply crashed after the go-go 1980s.

<span style='font-size: 14pt'>An abrupt refocusing of the presidential race.</span>
Once again it's about the economy, stupid "? and financial markets and how they are best regulated. There will also be discussion of whether anyone on Wall Street will be forced to pay a price for the wreckage taxpayers are now being told they will have to clean up. That shift should benefit Democratic nominee Barack Obama for many reasons, as economics in difficult times rarely help Republicans. But this race has proven conventional wisdom wrong time and again. What seems more certain is this: though virtually no one was calling for it, a new era of big government has arrived.

<span style='font-size: 14pt'>A dismaying final chapter for George W. Bush.</span>
Conservatives who hoped that the Bush team would leave a legacy of smaller government, freer markets and fewer regulations can officially kiss that hope goodbye. Government officials report that the President, whatever his ideological reservations about the Treasury's next move, cleared the way for the bailout in the face of what looked like certain economic meltdown.

Congress must still approve the bailout "? but no one wants to take responsibility for what may come in the absence of action; the plan is likely to go through.

Of course, these changes are just for starters. There is no telling what this week may bring.

http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...te-cnn-partner

It will need to have congress agree to raise the limit on the amount we owe and Bush has something like 3 pages to cover where 700 billion dollars is going to go. With a provision that doesn't allow for any court review, ever, if I read it right. And somebody would vote for this party how? I do see why they call it the "Rep Party " now.

[neutral88]

a democratic congress has to agree

[sup-rbeast]

It didn't have to from 1996-2006....now the mess from that time period has to be dealt with BY a democratic congress...

Is it the same guy that has run this office for 20 years that is to blame? Ya got 8 years of Clinton and the rest Reps in the white house, Bush had both houses for 6 years. Now we have a HOUSING crisis and George wants to put the money into the TOP. Hell, it belongs to the taxpayers, put it in at the bottom.

[neutral88]

all i'm sayin is why the fuss over this one, if the holy dems let it pass it must be good...

[sup-rbeast]

Since they are gonna do this, they should change the bankruptcy laws back so the common man can do it as well...

[sup-rbeast]

The fuss is that IT HAS TO BE DONE at this point....you, me, and everyone else has been raped by the system, and some of y'all still make excuses for those who did it.

[neutral88]

I'm not makin excuses, i hate bush, but that being said the dems have done no better....and wont do any better, they are driven by money nowdays just like pubs...

[sup-rbeast]

The GOP is more irresponsible with money than the dems IMO..