Constitutional oversight of national money is being sold away,

Bloomberg:

"Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats are questioning the legality of an important provision in the Bush administration's financial rescue plan: a proposal to bar judicial scrutiny of the U.S. Treasury Department's acquisition of up to $700 billion in troubled assets.

``I think that may be illegal, not to be able to challenge things,'' Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters. ``I'm not sure that would hold up anyway.''

Judicial bypass provisions are common in statutes and in some cases have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Congress, nonetheless, may choose to revise the administration plan to permit some independent review. So far, the issue has been overshadowed by Democratic demands to broaden the rescue plan to include a stimulus package for the economy and help for homeowners having difficulty paying their mortgages.

The proposed rescue echoes some of the most momentous presidential actions in U.S. history, including President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and President Harry S Truman's seizure of the nation's steel mills.

The Bush plan bars review by administrative agencies, as well as the judiciary, giving the Treasury secretary the final word on transactions.

Democratic Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would change that provision by giving oversight authority to the U.S. Comptroller General and the Government Accountability Office, Congress's financial watchdog.

Delegation of Power

Frank's proposal would address concerns that the Bush plan would be an unconstitutional delegation of congressional spending power, said Walker Todd, a former Cleveland Federal Reserve attorney who is now a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

``The number one thing in play here is the constitutional principle that no money shall be withdrawn from the Treasury except pursuant to appropriations by law,'' Todd said."