How come they don't need the process to pay bailouts?

[louis c]

Here's my question. If we need to pay for anything by the government, a bill has to pass a committee, vote in the house, pass the senate, signed by the president.

How come the Fed can make hundreds of billions of dollars in expenditures in a matter of hours with no vote?

What's the story?

[lapfog_1]

1. Yeah, I've been wondering that myself

remember the big stink over the Chrysler bailout. Congress had to pass a bill, and the amount... $3B.

And the repukes were howling over it. Seemed like such a big number.

[louis c]

2. Seems strange to me

Over 800 billion dollars in less than a month with no vote.

That's 45 years of earmarks at 18 billion a year

[lapfog_1]

3. The total is somewhere around $1.4 T

over the last 16 months.

When this is all over, the US debt (total, not including future obligations) will be $12 to $15 Trillion.

That's about $120,000 for each and every taxpayer.

[Vanje]

5. Is it too late to bail out Studebaker?

That was a GREAT car!!!!!

[lapfog_1]

7. Actually, would have been nice (and saved countless lives)

if we had bailed out (or even supported) the Tucker.

[Vanje]

4. I think I sort of know how it works.

The Fed is not a government entity.
Its independant. One of its functions is It prints the money.

It gets money to prop up Fannie and Freddie and AIG by printing up billions and billions of crisp new bills and handing it over to these failed businesses.

Have I got it about right?

[PsN2Wind]

6. The down side being

that those bills they are printing still end backed by "the full faith and credit" of the poor ass taxpayer.

[Vanje]

8. and printing out more money

is generally bad fro the economy,

otherwise what would be the problem with me personally printing up a couple thousand C-notes with which to stimulate my local economy.

[louis c]

9. I don't think that's it

If it was, why couldn't we just print up 100 billion a year for health care?

Why couldn't we just print up another 200 billion to fix out roads and bridges.

Or, better yet, why couldn't we print up about a trillion and bail out every home owner in America with a bad mortgage?

If that's all it took, we'd be just fine.

I remember, though, that that's how the Wiemar Republic did it in the 1920's in Germany. How'd that turn out? (sarcasm intended).