I just finished watching a marathon of "The Riches" - a great show about a family of con artists who are trying to steal the American Dream.
Maybe that's why I can see the bailout plan for what it really is.
The bailout plan is a scam - bunko, a con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, a scheme, and a swindle.
It's the long con - an elaborate confidence game, where an entire false world is created, the mark is pulled in slowly, and then stripped of his assets.
Congess' most potent tool - the power of the purse - is about to be stolen by the best con men in the world.
That is what the bailout plan, submitted to Congress as legislative text, is really all about.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
There is no guarantee that this money will be used ethically, professionally or wisely. There isn't even any assurance that this money will be used for the bailout. This is a blank check for the worst administration in our country's history.
The Executive branch is trying to CON Congress and permanently free itself from oversight and the power of the purse. Like good con artists, they are doing it by getting Congress to agree with the plan.
The Bush Administration and its Republican allies have been complicit in creating a financial mess, they are using hyperbole to overstate the urgency of the problem, and they are usuing Congress' self-doubt to raid the U.S. Treasury.
Per Naked Capitalism
This puts the Treasury's actions beyond the rule of law. This is a financial coup d'etat
This is about enhancing the power of the Executive branch by acquiring unprecedented, uncontrolled funding to be used at their discretion.
As Calculated Risk explained:
The plan only limits the Treasury to "$700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time", so the total purchases can exceed $700 billion. In fact, every time the Treasury sells some securities, they will probably plow the net proceeds back into more troubled assets until the entire $700 billion is gone.
Has more money ever been given with fewer restrictions on how it is used?
In the next few days (especially today), Bush and his cronies will put tremendous pressure on Congress to pass this poorly considered bill. It will have profound and long-term consequences to our country.
Bush will rely on the media to spread fear and bad info and make Congress fearful of a negative public reaction to delays. Con men prey on a false sense of urgency.
It is imperative that Congres recognize this for what it is - a swindle, a land grab, the long con on a massive scale.
But here's the thing - cons don't stand up to intense scrutiny and they are time sensitive. We must demand HEARINGS. We must resist the quick fix - find out what caused this, expose the truth to the light of day, and then act responsibly.
Obama, Pelosi, Sanders, and others have already stated their opposition.
We need to help spread the word that we are being conned, bamboozled, buffaloed, confounded, fuddled, and muddled.