x%? Way to drive a hard bargain there, J-Tap.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, and this is probably the best the lame duck congress can hope for in the next week and a half.

Happily, December isn't that long, and we should be looking forward to the new congress getting a serious piece of legislation put together by the end of the second week of January. By then we will have jettisoned much of the hostility from the congress, by way of jilted Republicans.

Sure, this is the result of Republican partisan posturing and not the result of good clear thinking. We'd all be happier if the current government was functioning. Of course, it hasn't been since at least 2005. Considering the other flailing Bush is doing with his executive orders, attacking environmental protections, this imperfect solution seems like manna from heaven. Relatively speaking.

When the modern day Democratic leadership decided to get in bed with the Republicans and the Wall Street sharks 90% of the public lost 90% of their representation. Today, we get trickle down economics from the Republicans and trickle down government from the Democrats. Today's Democrats give us a raise in minimum wage, a little on environmental laws, and alittle on social prigrams, but the bulk of their energy goes to the people that casaued this economic tsunami.

The Democrats aren't dealing with old time Republican businessmen, they're dealing with the sharks Reagan set loose and who have been growing in number until today where they permeate our business community.

I watched two hearings on the present economic storm; one chaired by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the other chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd. The Kucinich hearing was full of fireworks, with serious charges being spoken and inconvenient facs introduced. Sad to say, becasue of the state of the leadership, not much will become of that hearing.

Watching Chris Dodd's hearing with pretty much the same type witnesses, Dodd was almost serene, his attitude toward the witnesses was friendly.

Look how easy it was to bail the banks, investment companies and AIG. They're the people our modern day political parites are in bed with.
Has anyone who had hand in this been punished in any way? Any pay cuts?, any lost bonuses? any resignations? Money, being fungible, most probably means that the bailout money will help the sharks increase their salary and bonuses.

People like Dodd, Schumer, Clinton, Biden, Bayh, Carper, Feinstein, etc. will give us trickle down legislation in solving this financial disaster.

The Democrats are no longer the opposition party when it comes to how to treat the captains of industry and finance.

The liberals need to take over the party.

Whatever we ought to be doing in 2009 the A item
right now is for Congress to refuse permission to Paulson to spend the remaining $350Bn.

I certainly don't pretend to know how it should be spent,just that this administration shouldn't spend it.

JUST SAY NO

These sums are so enormous we can lose sight of how much of the future is being mortgaged.( My guess is is that $350Bn =s two years of the Iraq War.) And of what else could be done with those funds-which happen to be 10times the amount the auto industry has requested ( and maybe 3 times what it will ultimately need!)

Whatever weight we have now should be exercised in
preventing this Administration from this final raid on the country's future.

If we once let Paulson disburse that money the Right will have some justification for arguing that we really can't afford to go to the well again on behalf of the Big 3.

Corrupt financial institutions can be bailed-out. It is simple, and it works fine until they have to be bailed-out again on a larger-scale. They are just feudal conduits for redistribution of wealth from the working class to the ruling class, financing mercenary armies, and beautifying or de-oderizing wealth extracted from overseas slavery, wars, plantations, or mining.

You can call financial institutions a "financial services industry". But, they are not and never were an industry. They do not create or add-value to anything. At best, they are a necessary complement to industry and commerce, not a substitute for them.

Today, these institutions in extract monopoly-rent and indirect taxation (a) by creating money from fractional-reserves (commercial banks), (b) by building short-lived pyramids out of mud bricks from the bond-lawyers, water-soluble morter from the credit-rating agencies, and sugar-coated decoration from the accounting firms (investment banks) or just (c) by barter of arms and drugs (merchant banks).

Industry (and commerce) require (1)uniform and efficient prices, (2) planning, (3) standards, (4) regulation, (5) competition, and (6)protection all at various times, to certain degrees, in particular places. This is harder than what one is taught to do in law or business school. But, as long as a robust suite of patriotic professions and trades can keep all of those in good working order, financial intermediation across time and space will work. Jews, Unitarians, and others can all earn decent livings in the various sorts of banks.

But, when a financial institution, organized crime syndicate, or other criminal enterprise starts calling itself an industry or, rather, hires lawyers, lobbyists, even preachers, doctors, and, of course, either Senator from Connecticut to do so, you can be sure that the cringing liberals and faux-conservatives in Congress are conspiring (bi-partisan! bi-sexual! bi-ethical!) to (a) steal your money, (b) rape your daughter, and (c) kill your son ... with mere words.

In all this bluff and bluster, would anyone care to explain how the US auto plants run by non-US companies are thriving while Detroit isn't? Could it have anything to do with unions?

In the debate over what UAW workers make, whether it's $42 or $70 an hour, the bottom line hasn't been addressed. While the consensus is that $42 is the correct figure, they still have to produce $70 per hour of value. Each worker has to earn his own way plus that of the retirees. It's the same dilemma SS faces. Each upcoming worker has to produce enough value for himself and somebody else. In other times it was called indentured servitude.

As for the TARP program, I agree that the remaining money should wait for the next administration. Then there isn't any reason for Democrats to weasel around when that doesn't work either. Like everyone else, I'm eagerly anticipating January 20. After that, everything that happens is the Democrats fault.

Just as when the Republicans had control people like you said; 'everything that happens is the Democrats fault', or was it Clinton's fault?

and gosh, it's not important that things get better, only that Democrats can get blamed when things get worse.

And no, it's not $70/hr, period. Smoke and mirrors accounting jokes don't count.

See, there's the problem: under Republican leadership, Congress turned into a partisan body.

The crowning hypocrisy was the Foley affair. He was certainly indiscreet, but didn't do anything illegal. But that certainly didn't deter the Dems from hounding him out of office, even while ignoring their own history. Garry Studds D-Mass had actual sex with a page, held a press conference about it, and was re-elected numerous times.

For eight years Democrats have called Bush every vile name possible, demonized his policies, and fought his appointments. As far as I'm concerned you can take bipartisanship and stick it where the sun don't shine.