No way, no how, no bailout.


I am still opposed to the current bill. I will list several reasons...
first are the
if-you-don't-get-this-provision-removed-and-still-vote-for-this-bill,
I-won't-vote-for-you-again parts.



1) There is a terrible provision that requires, if in 5 years we have
lost money on the deal, requires the president to submit a proposal to
raise revenue covering the shortfall.

In a word, are you kidding me? If Congress doesn't have the courage to
write a taxing provision now, they certainly won't have the courage in
5 years. The current language is worth than nothing, but it is a
transparent smokescreen and an insult to the intelligence of the
American public.







2) How much equity we receive for debt shortfalls need to be clearly defined.

See above. If that mechanism is not defined now when Congress holds all
the cards, then the future mechanism designed by the treasury secretary
and a mountain of lobbyists is sure to be a boon to the banks a bust
for taxpayers.



OK, those are the big two. The others:

3) The pricing mechanism needs to be well-defined, and transparently
communicated to the public. All the data on what we're buying and what
we are paying needs to be available. If we overpay, that needs to be
made explicit.



4) These phony lies about how we could break even need to stop. They are insulting.



5) Same with the crap about the executive compensation. These are tiny
curbs and while commendable, you need to stop pretending this is some
great achievement.



6) Congress needs to be a full partner. Letting one man-- Bush, McCain
or Obama-- be in charge of appointing all the key personnel is
preposterous. This is a humongous outlay, and the people need a voice
in the actual decisions, not just oversight.



This bill, while 1/10 as bad as Paulson's original power grab, is still
bad. I have resigned myself to Congress using taxpayer power money to
bail out financial firms instead of using saner approaches. I am
disappointed. But this bill can still be greatly improved, and it would
be a shame if Congress rushed to pass a bad bill instead of taking a
few more weeks to pass a decent bill.