Economic bailout bill passes Congress
"The legislation is a critical step toward stabilizing our financial markets and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of credit to households and businesses," Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said in a statement.
Even though this bill is by no means perfect philosophically or practically, this is good news to help the economy rebound a bit by adding liquidity and confidence back into the market.
Basics of the bill:
- Allow Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy up to $700 billion in bad mortgage-related securities and other bad assets.
- Allow the Treasury Department to modify mortgage terms to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
- Permit the government to receive equity in companies it helps so taxpayers get a share of any future profits.
- Restrict executive pay for companies aided by the program.
- Create an independent oversight board to oversee the Treasury Department program.
