::::::::
Before any taxpayer money is approved to bailout financial companies, legislation must include specific provisions for assessing the value of assets.
In a previous article, this reporter enumerated eight specific measures that ought to be included in any rescue proposal.
See: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pragmatism-and-Commonsense-by-Constance-Lavender-080923-692.html
In particular, suggestion one has to do with the listing and valuation of assets.
1. all entities having access to any US funds must declare their assets, debits, and net worth in a complete and thorough accounting statement;
The question arises: supposing out of the $700 billion, the US Treasury buys two bundles of assets that contain pre-packaged mortgages, notes, and securities considered "toxic assets" from Bank ABC.
Bundle A contains a mortgage from a refinancing deal in 2004. In 2005, the same homeowner refinanced through a new mortgage contained in Bundle B. What happened to the original mortgage in Bundle A? Is it still listed on the books? Does it still exist?
This seems to be one of the more troubling aspects of using taxpayer money to purchase these assets: parts of these bundles may not even exist, let alone wondering how much they are worth.
Congress needs to consider questions like this in designing any legislation. And they need reasonable, sound answers to these types of questions.
