Obama economic team, key lawmaker work to redo financial bailout and shift Bush course

[firedupdem]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-financial-bailout,0,5513528.story

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's economic team is talking with the Bush administration about having Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson ask Congress within the next week for access to the $350 billion remaining in the financial bailout fund, officials on both sides said Friday.

A request by Paulson would allow Obama to begin tapping the fund — the last half of a $700 billion rescue package authorized by Congress in October — promptly after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Obama's transition team also has asked Neel Kashkari, the head of the rescue program at the Treasury Department, to stay on for "a couple of weeks" under the new Obama administration to ensure a smooth transition, an Obama official said.

Paulson has said for a number of weeks that he has been having talks with the Obama team on when a request should be presented to Congress seeking the second $350 billion. He has said that the decision on timing has been left up to the incoming administration.



"They're the decision-maker here," Paulson said in a response to a question after a speech Wednesday.

[w4rma]

1. Why the heck is Obama asking anyone from Treasury to stay on after what they did with the previous

$350 BILLION?

[EraOfResponsibility]

2. Calm down, it's just for the transition

[DCBob]

3. The "shift in course" part is encouraging....

This is from further down in the article:

Eager to shift the course of the government's financial sector bailout fund, Obama and congressional Democrats want a more defined mission for the beleaguered $700 billion rescue program. The House could act as early as next week on a new tack for the Troubled Asset Relief Program that would set tougher conditions on recipients of the money, including limits on executive pay, and require the Treasury Department to use some of the money to reduce mortgage foreclosures.

At the same time, Obama's selection for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is broadening the program's goals, aiming to unfreeze credit for homeowners, consumers, small businesses and local governments. Geithner and Obama's economic team are developing a "comprehensive set of investment principles" that would also embrace restrictions on how the money is spent, limits on executive compensation for fund recipients and a plan to address rising foreclosures, an Obama transition official said.
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I am surprised these conditions and goals were not part of the original package. They all sound reasonable and rather obvious.

[firedupdem]

4. unfreezing credit for small businesses needs to happen sooner

then later. These funds need to be released. My husband works for a small company and these people are already talking pay cuts. I need them to not have any excuse. The money needs to be released. We know the first portion vanished into thin air....I don't think the same thing will happen with this portion.

[w4rma]

5. How about another method of getting money to small buisness instead of through for-profit banks?(nt)

[firedupdem]

6. hey....that's something to think about.

How would they do it? If loans came straight from the government wouldn't we run the risk of some private organization running the program and then looting the money in executive compensation.....oh wait..the banks did that too.

I dunno....thinking you have a good point though. I'm starting to bang my head against the wall!!
Outsourcing of our jobs led us here and now this company may not be able to meet payroll! fuck fuck fuck!!