The Bush administration is asking Congress for US$700 billion (Dh2.57 trillion) to buy up troubled assets from financial institutions. Congressional Democrats are proposing to add several limits and requirements. Here are the main elements of both plans:
Give the Treasury secretary broad authority to buy up to $700bn in troubled assets from any financial institution if he decides, in consultation with the chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a bid for market stability for market stability.
Raise the $10.6tn statutory limit on the national debt to $11.3tn.
Allow the Treasury secretary to buy, hold and sell the assets in any way he sees fit. That includes the ability to go outside normal government contracting practices to hire private companies to manage them.
In return the government should report to congressional budget, tax-writing and financial services committees within three months of using the authority and every six months thereafter.
Shield rescue program from judicial review, which will last for two years.
Require that companies benefiting from the bailout do not give so-called "golden parachutes" to executives and have rules to revoke bonuses awarded based on bogus claims.
Allow judges to rewrite the terms of bankrupt homeowners' mortgages so they can afford to stay in their homes.
Allow the government to take an equity stake in participating companies to share in future profits.
Require that the government draft a plan to renegotiate the mortgages it purchases to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Create a congressional oversight panel to scrutinize the rescue program and subject it to court review.
Limit the program to financial institutions with "significant operations" in the United States and exclude foreign central banks and companies owned by foreign governments.
* AP
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20profile
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if you go