bailout will be catastrophic for some school districts (0.00 / 0)

THIS IS A HUGE IMPLICATION OF BAILOUT BILL THAT HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED.

The federal government does not pay property taxes. What happens when the federal gov't buys $700 billion worth of properties?

This severely undercuts the tax base of a large number of communities.

And foreclosed homes at not evenly spread across the country. Two of my local communities (Bellwood, IL and Maywood, IL) have been especially hard hit by foreclosures. And their school districts were already troubled.

Even supporters of the bailout should acknowledge this issue needs to be addressed.

The simplest fix is to require financial institutions that sell properties to the federal government to pay property taxes until the federal gov't sells the properties.

See Proviso Probe for a more in-depth discussion.

---

by: Carl Nyberg @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:09:53 PM UTC

this should be a front page issue that gets (0.00 / 0)

hammered until it's addressed in the legislation.

---

by: Carl Nyberg @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:10:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not an expert (0.00 / 0)

But I don't think this is an issue. The government isn't buying property. It's buying mortgage-backed securities, or indirectly (I think) mortgages. The people who got those mortgages and who own the property will still be paying property tax regardless of who their mortgage payments go to.

---

by: morgan @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:44:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

if people are paying the mortgages (0.00 / 0)

what's the need for the gov't to get involved?

Property owners are behind on their mortgages. They are in default. Many properties have been foreclosed upon.

When the financial sector unloads bad debt on the federal gov't, what assets are they going to unload? People paying their mortgages? Or foreclosed homes?

---

by: Carl Nyberg @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:53:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not reading ... (4.00 / 3)

I'm writing :-).  And so are a handful of others.

In all seriousness, whether or not my brand of activism is your cup of tea, if you're concerned about the bailout, this isn't this the time to take action.  Call and email your legislators; demonstrate; start up your own campaign ... the point is do something.

---

by: JonPincus @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:12:46 PM UTC

Roubini (4.00 / 1)

another must-read by Roubini. If this bailout passes we are lining the pockets of reckless bankers and investors and the risk of a systemic meltdown of the entire financial system gets bigger.

Now the prospect of this plan passing (but there is some lingering deal risk the votes in the House are not certain) - as well as the other massive policy actions taken to stop short selling "speculation" and support interbank markets and money market funds - is not sufficient to make the markets rally as there is a generalized loss of confidence in financial markets and in financial institutions that no policy action seem to be able to control.

The next step of this panic could become the mother of all bank runs, i.e. a run on the trillion dollar plus of the cross border short-term interbank liabilities of the US banking and financial system as foreign banks as starting to worry about the safety of their liquid exposures to US financial institutions; such a silent cross border bank run has already started as foreign banks are worried about the solvency of US banks and are starting to reduce their exposure. And if this run accelerates - as it may now - a total meltdown of the US financial system could occur. We are thus now in a generalized panic mode and back to the risk of a systemic meltdown of the entire financial system. And US and foreign policy authorities seem to be clueless about what needs to be done next.

http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog...

---

by: T Maysle @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:23:59 PM UTC

On a less substantive note... (0.00 / 0)

Howard Kurtz says that "the worst may be yet to come for Palin; sources say CBS has two more responses on tape that will likely prove embarrassing."  DailyKos linked to it with a somewhat conspiratorial accusation about CBS withholding more self-inflicted wounds for Palin, but someone in the comments says that it's simply because CBS is airing more of the interview tonight and tomorrow night.  

Does anybody know if that's happening?  I don't watch network news, so I guess the only way to know is if CBS has been promoting more Palin interview segments for the next couple of evenings.    

---

by: Haggai @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:24:30 PM UTC

I'm listen to Barney Frank embrace fear tactics (0.00 / 0)

Just heard a clip on the radio of him railing that THIS bailout rescues people who want to get loans for cars, small businesses, bla bla bla.

what a fuck.

Michael Bloomberg, prince of corporate welfare

---

by: Will @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:35:31 PM UTC

Profiles in Courage (Not) (0.00 / 0)

So McCain and Obama cannot be bothered to cast Wall Street bailout bill votes (yea or nay)?

Good grief. What a rotten turkey this bill is.

---

by: BBCWatcher @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:35:35 PM UTC

I can't believe they won't in the end (0.00 / 0)

Surely they can't afford to. If one votes, even if the public don't agree with the position he took, then he can plaster the airwaves with attacks on the sincerity of the other. And there's no good defence.

"John McCain/Barack Obama doesn't care enough about the greatest issue of today to vote on it. Why should you vote for him?"

Too devastating to risk it.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

---

by: Englishlefty @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 15:56:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not so much reading, as wondering (0.00 / 0)

Are there any plans to have the Top Execs from these failed and bailed banks to come before a congressional committee, or even the people of the US in a Town Hall style format, to explain how it came to pass that their businesses went bust making bad loans and how such justifies, not only their compensation packages, but their portion of the bailhand out monies?

It sure would help me get over the feeling that I'm being taken to the cleaners.


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

---

by: SpitBall @ Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 17:33:26 PM UTC