some random musings from a confused person...
aside from some of the younger economists whose articles i am trying to read, the terrible irony in all of this, is that the people who are crafting the plans to get us out of this mess are the same ones who got us into it.
those from greenspan's era, presided over the era of irrational exuberance and those with financial oversight in government and the private sector from that time forward, were either looking the other way, asleep at the switch,lining their own pockets, or harboring their money in sovereign wealth funds where they would not be sunk like the rest of us, who are now wondering if even the fdic will really be able to cover what we have in our checking accounts.
........there is another point that occurred to me last night.
watching mccain last night on "sixty minutes," was worrisome in another regard. he pulled out a young soldier's dog tag with tears in his eyes, reinforcing his image of a safer time, "american" values and a calm place in a storm of white flight.
i hope that people, in their desperation, dont regard him as a figure of comfort and safety at this time.
he is a master of deceit, but as he says, also a very lucky man in his later years.
this country is so crippled in debt, so vulnerable in every way right now...and those that we elected, those who ran the companies that we all invested in, gamed the system, gamed our money and still continue to insist on receiving their golden parachutes, for which they should prosecuted, in this life or the next, since it probably wont happen here.
is there light at the end of this tunnel?
i guess warren buffet thinks so, because he is buying every company in sight. does that mean there is cause for optimisim?
or does that just mean that rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
are we still american....or are we now the united states of dubai, china and the black markets?
i am wishing barack obama all of the luck in the world.
for a person like myself, who worked hard and tried to save my money, but doesnt have a degree in economics,it is hard to put one's arms around all of the practical, as well as philosophical considerations of all of the things happening right now.
in one moment, we see images of the marriott blowing up on the tv, and still, the same tree outside the window, is losing its leaves and turning color. just like last year and the year before.
what to think.

No Ezra yo're wrong. Obama is the leader of the Democratic party right now. If he forcefully comes out against the plan its dead. If he comes out with some wishy washy statements, it goes forward. It is all on Obama.

Reading Dodd's comments, it looks like Treasury plans to buy at retail and sell at fire-sale prices so that the $700b is moved to our government balance sheet while the financial industry keeps their portfolios but at lower costs. The only way out of this ill-considered bail-out is to get the right wing outraged. Don't stop after calling your Democratic congressmen, call Republicans too. And would someone ask Dodd who else he has discussed this with on Wall Street besides Bernanke and Paulsen. Why take their word as gospel?

I think Rob has it right. And Obama had better be ready to take this seriously, because this is really the first big battle of the Obama Administration, whether he's ready for it or not.

If Congress commits us to an additional $700B worth of debt, a whole host of forces, from Broder to health insurance lobbyists, will use this as a reason why Obama shouldn't be allowed to do anything that costs real money, and the deficit needs to be addressed first, and all that.

That line of BS will win over enough Blue Dogs so that the Senate Republicans will have plenty of political cover to block cloture.

If this bailout package passes in anything like its current form, the Obama Administration is strangled in its cradle.

So Team Obama needs to be doing more than making high-minded statements. It needs to be patrolling the House and Senate office buildings, twisting arms, counting votes, taking names, and reminding everyone just who's going to be President in four months - IF they're lucky.

low-tech, to even understand that, let alone act on it, Obama would have to stop hanging around with the very assholes, like Rubin, who caused this problem in the first place. Don't hold your breath.

The truth is, we're fucked. Both parties are so deeply corrupt that no meaningful reform is possible. I think I'm going to start ignoring politics and just accept that I live in a country like China where ordinary people have absolutely no say in the government. Because that's what we've become.

Liberal member from Connecticut, home an overwhelming number of Wall Street fat cats. The Dems can't let Dodd drive this bus. We are much better off with Frank leading the charge, both because he is smarter and tougher but also because he knows this stuff cold and won't get hoodwinked. The Dems need to slow things down and not have a replay of the Iraw war resolution.

I think Ezra's more fundamentally wrong in giving so much control over this to Dodd, and by extension, Frank. It was clear yesterday, and I think it's clearer today, that the proposal Paulson sent them can't pass as is (I thought Paulson came off fairly badly in almost all his appearances). How it changes will be a careful compromise, it seems to me, between liberals who want to tie this to mortgage relief for consumers, and conservatives who really don't like the idea of intervention at all (even Boehner more or less said if he had a choice he wouldn't do this). My guess is that Paulson will have to agree to greater accountability and transparency... but I can also see the Bush folks balking at those kind f strictures. And unlike Ezra, I don't actually buy, just yet, that all of this is a done deal. Calmer voices are asking some pointed questions about what is, in fact, a really very vague plan with little real structure that may do far less than anyone hopes to "solve" our current crisis. Myself, I'm not counting on Obama to show a kind of leadership he has not shown, either as a Senator or as a candidate; but what he wants does seem crucial to what ultimately happens. It's others, people with more legislative skill and experience I expect to slow this thing down until it either makes sense or dies. Which one it will be seems a little up in the air.

If Dodd foists this, or some minimal Christmas tree version of this upon the country, he can go join his fellow senator from Connecticut and live in eternal infamy and disgrace.

Give Paulson $70B, have him come back in a month with a full and detailed report, and if we accept the result give him more; if not, not.

It's the Iraq War vote all over again. I like Dodd and think he's a good man with good intentions but he's like Brooksie in Shawshank Redemption. He's an institutional man. No matter how much noise these guys make about shaking up the system they ARE the system. Dodd and Kerry both voted for the Iraq War and say they were moved to action against it when they met one young officer who told them both what a clusterf#ck it was and then was killed shortly after.

The healthcare system that isn't going to get fixed because there is no money left after this bailout is going to kill 18,000 people a year.

Too big to fail? Nobody says that about our healthcare system and it fails every day.

Hand the reins to Barney Frank and insert some healthy scepticism into the debate. Have Obama back Frank to the hilt. Accountability is the word that needs to be repeated until people are sick of hearing it.

after reading here and elsewhere, and not having any idea how this is going to actually impact ordinary people in everyday life,
i am thinking,
forget universal healthcare, i just hope that we can all afford band~aids and aspirin.

Universal healthcare went with the Iraq vote- this is whether or not sod houses are going to be the new in thing.

If this Obama doesn't come out forcefully against this Wall Street welfare plan, and if the Democratic Congress passes anything like it I swear I am done, once and for all, with the Democratic Party.

About the above comments of "handing this over to Barney Frank" cause he's so darn smart . . .

He's the same genius who got the bright idea about a year ago to RAISE the amount fan/fred can lend from $414K to around $740K; who for years FOUGHT against increased regulation and capital requirements for Fan/Fred, who once stated there was "no way" taxpayers guaranteed Fan/Fred debt and who more than anyone is smack in the middle of this debacle. (And believe me, it's bipartisan). As for Dodd, again, he was also smack in the middle of this crap and also got a sweetheart deal from Countrywide and also the most campaign contribution from Fan/Fred.

But yeah, they're the ones to be leading this.

Obama is the leader of the Democratic party right now. If he forcefully comes out against the plan its dead. If he comes out with some wishy washy statements, it goes forward. It is all on Obama.

I agree that it really is gut-check time for Obama, but politically this is very perilous. If he were to take a leading role in opposing the bailout, it's possible that the beltway insider/media/wise old men of Washington will deem him 'irresponsible', that meme dominates the coverage for the next 6 weeks, and he loses.

On the other hand, if he goes along with a bailout, and wins the election, his administration is staring at a fresh trillion-dollar crater directly in the path of anything he might hope to accomplish.

This is complicated by his recent uptick in the polls; if he were behind, then doing the right but risky thing would be a no-brainer.

One thing is pretty obvious to me: if this juggernaut can be stopped at all, Obama is the only one who can stop it. (I might take a little exception to your certainty that Obama could stop it if he wanted to; that's by no means certain, and has to factor into his political calculations.
To go out on a limb opposing it, just to have it pass anyway, would be insane.)

On the other hand, if he goes along with a bailout, and wins the election, his administration is staring at a fresh trillion-dollar crater directly in the path of anything he might hope to accomplish.

Which is why it's not really a political risk at all. The Presidency is simply not worth winning on those terms.

Amen to that.

I find it hilarious that anyone thinks Obama has control over the
Democratic Party. If the last thrity years of history are any guide, a Democratic Congress only comes to heel when there's a Republican president.

The democrats have already fucked Obama by putting him over a barrel on FISA and offshore drilling; and with their corporate master yaking the leash VERY hard on the Paulson bailout plan, a fait accompli for Obama is guaranteed.

Ezra, look up "fulsome" in the dictionary.

Nick, I think Ezra's use of fulsome is perfectly appropriate.

Well, appropriate in the context in which I would employ it, which is to say, when describing something that's overdone to the point of being embarrassing or sickening.