A solid set of bailout requirements
The most sane set of requirements that I’ve seen thus far for the pending corporate bailout came to me from Congressman Dennis Kucinich. I realize that the political will for most of these doesn’t exist, but even half of them would be nice.
Let your Senators and Representatives know that this is what you want. (Or edit it to MAKE it what you want.) It’s our money and (more importantly) our debt burden. WE should have a say!
1. Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
2. Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
3. Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
a) resignations of management
b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
c) limitations on executive compensation
d) admission by CEO’s of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout
4. Demands for transparency
a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
b) with respect to Treasury’s dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
5. An equity position for the taxpayers
a) some form of ownership of assets
6. Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
7. A sunset clause on the legislation
8. Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
9. A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
10. A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts
Thanks, Dennis!