Congress is now considering a so-called "bailout package" proposed by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, George Bush, and the Executive Branch. This package would bail out floundering banks and companies (correct me if I'm wrong, here) and would give the Treasury control over the whole process. Maybe it's just my natural fear of consolidation of power, but vesting all this power in the hands of an administrative department within the Executive just rubs me the wrong way. It also doesn't help that Section 8 of this proposed plan reads:
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.
Now that's just downright scary. No oversight? What are they thinking? If there is no oversight, then Congress could pass as much regulatory legislation as it wanted, and Paulson and Bush would always be able to trump them. This is just another battle in the ongoing war that has been waged for the last 8 years - the war between the Executive and Legislative Branches. This is a blatant attempt to corrode the system of checks and balances that this nation is based on.
I'll write more about this tomorrow on a day where I don't have tons of homework and fencing, because right now I need some sleep. Here's a fun picture I came across to tide you over until then (I'm sure you'll be waiting with baited breath).
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