$700B BAILOUT
$700B BAILOUT
Provisions at a glance
The Bush administration is asking Congress for $700 billion to buy up troubled mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial institutions. The proposal would:
Give the Treasury secretary broad authority to buy up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets from any financial institution in the United States.
Raise the $10.6 trillion statutory limit on the national debt to $11.3 trillion.
Allow Treasury secretary to buy, hold and sell the assets any way he sees fit.
Give the government power to designate financial institutions as “financial agents of the government” and require them to carry out any “reasonable duties” that entails.
Instruct the Treasury secretary to consider both providing market stability and protecting taxpayers in using the bailout power, granted for two years.
Story, A4