George,

If you heard the earth shake last night, it was James Madison – the father of the Constitution – turning over in his grave. Congress is about to turn over unprecedented and unchecked powers to an appointed official – the Secretary of the Treasury. If the Democratic leaders of Congress allow this to happen, they will have sold out the Constitution in order to bail out Wall Street.

Under the legislation being proposed, the Secretary of Treasury will have powers to do whatever he alone wants with mortgage finances for two years. On yes, he has to “report” to some Congressional committees in three months and semiannually thereafter. Reporting to a Congressional committee is a piece of cake. It is not a Constitutional check.

An independent non-partisan agency, appointed by Congress, is what is needed. This may take a little more time to set up, but Constitutional democracy is at stake.

Are Congressional Democrats going to cave in once again and let the Constitution be shredded? (At least this time they are not giving the Republican executive a blank check as they did with the Iraq War Resolution. This time the check has a “fixed” amount – a mere $700 billion.) Democrats should hold out for an independent agency that would perform something like the RTC did in the late 1980’s when the savings banks were in trouble.

David RePass (Electronic mail, September 21, 2008)