What John McCain and the Radical Deregulators Destroyed

Here is the agreement that John McCain and his radical Republican cohorts destroyed to grandstand, further deregulate Wall Street and further cut corporate taxes.

Text of Lawmakers' Agreement on Principles

Congressional Republicans and Democrats came to an agreement on principles for the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program that they will take into final negotiations with the White House. It includes sections on taxpayer protections, oversight and transparency, homeownership preservation and funding authority. -Phil Izzo

The full text follows:
Agreement on Principles

1. Taxpayer Protection

     a. Requires Treasury Secretary to set standards to prevent excessive or inappropriate executive compensation for participating companies

     b. To minimize risk to the American taxpayer, requires that any transaction include equity sharing

     c. Requires most profits to be used to reduce the national debt

2. Oversight and Transparency

     a. Treasury Secretary is prohibited from acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner or in any way that is inconsistent with existing law

     b. Establishes strong oversight board with cease and desist authority

     c. Requires program transparency and public accountability through regular, detailed reports to Congress disclosing exercise of the Treasury Secretary's authority

     d. Establishes an independent Inspector General to monitor the use of the Treasury Secretary's authority

     e. Requires GAO audits to ensure proper use of funds, appropriate internal controls, and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse

3. Homeownership Preservation

     a. Maximize and coordinate efforts to modify mortgages for homeowners at risk of foreclosure

     b. Requires loan modifications for mortgages owned or controlled by the Federal Government

     c. Directs a percentage of future profits to the Affordable Housing Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund to meet America's housing needs

4. Funding Authority

     a. Treasury Secretary's request for $700 billion is authorized, with $250 billion available immediately and an additional $100 billion released upon his or her certification that funds are needed

     b. final $350 billion is subject to a Congressional joint resolution of disapproval

Read some of Robert Borosage's comments on McCain's action, as related to the tentative agreement on principles, here

John McCain's Mighty Mouse routine was self-serving, grandoise, manipulative, and dishonorable.  It was not putting country first. He shamelessly co-opted Barack Obama's requirements for an agreemnt and pretended they were his own.  But most of all, John McCain has claimed to defend oversight, while trying to further unravel oversight.  He's claimed to be going to save America, while trying to save his own tail.  He was heading back immediately, while David Letterman discovered the disreputable truth and aired the video for all the world to see.  He's claimed he has the leadership to be president, while showing at every turn that he does not.  Given the Machiavellian behavior and the incompetence by McCain and Palin this week, they have a lot of nerve standing before us under their phony "County First" banner.  John McCain no longer knows the meaning of "Country First."  Indeed for 26 years he's been pretending he remembers, while cavorting with deregulators, lobbyists (there are 177 lobbyists or former lobbyists working for the McCain campaign, 83 of them with Wall Street connections).  Read more about that here

Here is just part of the list from the article:

Phil Anderson: American Council of Life Insurers, Aetna, AIG, New York Life, MassMutual, VISA

Rebecca Anderson: Aegon, American Council of Life Insurers, Cigna, Barclays, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC

Stanton Anderson: The Debt Exchange

David Beightol: Allstate, Amerigroup, Charles Schwab, HSBC

Rhonda Bentz: VISA

Wayne Berman: American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Americhoice, Shinsei Bank, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Broidy Capital Management, Credit Suisse Securities, Highstar Capital, VISA, Ameriquest Mortgage, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fitch Ratings

Charlie Black: JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, National Association of Mortgage Brokers

Judy Black: Colorado Credit Union League, Genworth Financial, Bay Harbour Management, Merrill Lynch

Kirk Blalock: Credit Union National Association, Financial Executives International, American Insurance Association, Mutual of Omaha, Zurich Financial Service Group, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Carlos Bonilla: Financial Services Roundtable, Freddie Mac

Christine Burgeson: Citigroup

Mark Buse: Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Nicholas Calio: Citigroup, Managed Fund Association, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, The Investment Company Institute, TIAA-CRE, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Amscot Financial Corporation, Community Financial Services Association, Fidelity National Financial

Andrew Cantor: American Insurance Association, Merrill Lynch

Alberto Cardenas: Fannie Mae

James Courter: Goldman Sachs, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Investment Company Institute, Merrill Lynch

David Crane: Financial Services Roundtable, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Bank of America, Association of Corporate Credit Unions, Freddie Mac

Dan Crippen: Merrill Lynch, National Multi-Housing Council

Arthur Culvahouse: Fannie Mae

Bryan Cunningham: Arch Capital Group

Alfonse D'Amato: AIG, Freddie Mac

Doug Davenport: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, VISA

Many more names are listed in the article here.

My prediction for tonight is that John McCain will do a double sommie-layout-twist, and claim he's solved the problems of the world.  In his mind the Russians are in his "airspace" too. That's when he's not carrying water for the Milton Friedman worshipers of the radical extreme of his party. Barack Obama has an excellent new ad up on the economy.  In the ad, Obama rightly points out that the lie of trickle down has been shown for what it is.  Only misery "trickles up."  And John McCain, Phil Gramm and the McCain wrecking crew are the worst thing to ever present themselves on the political stage.  Who'd have thought that someone could make George W. Bush look more "benign"? That's the legacy of John McCain and Sarah Palin.  

Comments