Blog - The Big Three Bailout Bill

Taxpayers for Common Sense got their hands on a copy of a discussion draft of the auto bailout legislation and posted it online in a pdf.

Click here to download the bill

I’m posting this before having much of a chance to look at it, but here’s what TFCS has found in the bill so far:

>It taps the existing $25 billion auto loan guarantee program created under the Energy bill. It also has a repayment structure (5 percent for 5 years, 9 percent after) similar to the bank investments under TARP. The starting point is the restructuring plans submitted by the companies on December 2, with a January 1 progress assessment due. Shorter term periodic reports are due upon release of the loans, every several days.
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>It also creates a so-called “Car Czar” (less colorfully called the “President’s designee”) within the Executive Branch (that serves at the pleasure of the President, so President-elect Obama can have who he wants upon taking office) that watches over car companies that have taken the loans and can void “sale, investment, contracts, commitment, or other transaction” that exceed $25,000,000. The Czar also sets executive compensation and corporate governance standards for the companies. The GAO and the TARP IG will oversee the work of the Czar and have access to the companies books.

UPDATE: Steven M. Davidoff has a great rundown of what’s in the bill at his NYT blog, Deal Book.