Dodd's Legislative Proposal From Treasury Department for Authority to Buy Mortgage-Related Assets
Title I - Authorizing the Treasury Department to Buy Mortgage-Related Assets
Sec. 12. Termination of authority.
TERMINATION.
IN GENERAL.Except as provided in paragraph (2), the authorities provided under this Act shall terminate on December 31, 2009.
EXCEPTION.Paragraph (1) does not apply to the authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5, and 7.
EXTENSION UPON CERTIFICATION.The Secretary, upon submission of a written certification to Congress, may extend the authority provided under this Act to expire not later than 2 years from the date of enactment of this Act. Such certification shall include a justification of why the extension is necessary to assist American families and stabilize financial markets, as well as the expected costs to the taxpayer for such an extension.
APPLICATION OF SUNSET TO TROUBLED ASSETS.The authority of the Secretary to hold any troubled asset purchased under this Act before the termination date under this section, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a troubled asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date under this section shall not terminate in accordance with this section.
General Comments on Dodd's Legislative Proposal From Treasury Department for Authority to Buy Mortgage-Related Assets
The limits placed on any entity or individual receiving funds under this act shall not expire until December 31, 2019.
This is to keep the executives of bailed-out companies from giving themselves gigantic compensation increases and golden parachutes in 2010.
This power should terminate when the current Secretary of the Treasury leaves office, on January 20, 2008.
No way should the next Secretary hold any of the powers in this or any other version of this bill.
This should be rewritten thus, "The authorities provided under this Act shall terminate on December 31, 2009."
Period. In business we have this concept called a "pilot program" where an program is initiated then stakeholders are allowed to comment on the effectiveness of the program. These comments are then leveraged into a rewritten program or policy, learning from mistakes and incongruities.
Why not try that approach here?
This is an emergency measure. Any authority given the secretary and committee based on this bill must terminate in no more than 90 days.