Yesterday, Senator Bob Bennett, one of our Senators in Utah came to UVU (Utah Valley University) to give a lecture on the financial crisis. Brian skipped his Mandatory Nap Time at BYU (also known as colloquium) to go to this lecture. Brian knew it would open up for questions at the end and he had more than a few for our Senator. Brian emailed both Senators when the bailout bill was being passed and urged them not to vote for the bailout. Both our senators did anyway. When the lecture was finally done and the opportunity to ask questions arose, Brian got the 2nd question in. He asked "Why did sign this bill allowing the Secretary of Treasury such enormous powers, more than any other cabinet member in the history of the US and seemingly without checks and balances in place against abuse?" The Senator told Brian there is a "bipartisan panel" that he would have to report to. The Minority Leader would get to choose one (to guarantee bipartisan I guess, but in the text of the bill, Brian didn't see that anywhere.) The people on this "panel" are all appointed positions. Here is who is on this so-called bipartisan committee- The Chairman of the Federal Reserve, The Secretary of the Treasury (Oh yeah! He reports to himself. I feel better now...NOT!!!), The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, The Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Hmmm..does that sound Bi-Partisan to you?! Gee, if I'm not mistaken, NONE of those people are even elected officials.
After the meeting was over, Brian asked Bob Bennett a few more questions. We are not pleased with how he voted. Do you think your Senator even READ the bill?!? Probably not. It's too long and they had to vote quick! As Brian was about to leave, he was stopped by a newspaper reporter who wanted to talk to him. Here is the part about Brian. To read the whole article click HERE.
In the short term, Bennett said, the government hopes the bailout will free up the system so banks can start making loans again. In the long term, experts say the move could return as much as $1 trillion.
Some audience members had questions about the bailout's language. Brian Bucklein, a UVU professor of astronomy, said he was worried about the amount of power the plan appears to give the Treasury Secretary.
But Bennett said Congress has created a board to regulate him.
"We have hedged this one around with enough specifics that I don't feel concerned about that," he said.
Bucklein said Bennett answered many of his questions, but he still has his doubts.
"When has the U.S. government run a program that made money?" he asked.
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