Treasury Secretary Geithner has
proposed a need to have more power for the Treasury Department to take over "failing" non-bank institutions. A key phrase is:
Geithner said Congress should grant the government new authority to make loans to a troubled institution, buy its obligations, take over its liabilities or possibly take an ownership stake in it while it regains its footing.
But hasn't the fact that we HAVE taken ownership of AIG the rationale used to suggest that the government has the right to regulate executive pay? Or:
In that capacity, it would gain sweeping powers like the right to sell or transfer assets of non-bank financial institutions that get in trouble. The government would also get the authority to renegotiate contracts, including pacts with employees, and to halt the termination of contracts if necessary.
This sounds suspiciously like the federal government grabbing power. And, yes, this is brought to you by the very people that called the Patriot Act a "massive power grab" as reported in the
International Herald Tribune.
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