Okay, we all should be glad that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seems to have abandoned, or at least sidelined, his TARP program and instead decided to directly inject capital into the banking system. The problem is under-capitalized banks and that is best solved by giving the banks more capital.

But, there is a big issue about the terms under which they were given capital. Secretary Paulson decided that a 5 percent rate of return on preferred share was good enough for the taxpayers. Warren Buffet got a 10 percent return for his investment.

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By John Schmitt and Dean Baker

In his 1980 presidential debate with Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked the American people whether they were better off than they had been four years ago. Enough voters answered "no" to give Reagan a decisive victory in the election.

Senator Obama is posing the same question today, since Senator McCain promises to continue the economic policies of the Bush administration. One of us (John Schmitt) recently compared all the major indicators of economic well-being in 2008 and 2000.

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I know it's rude in DC policy circles to ever hold people accountable for the things they said way back when they were two weeks younger, but I like to break rules.

Remember all those folks who said that it was absolutely essential that the bailout bill be passed immediately or the economy would collapse? How can these people explain the fact that 10 days after he has had the full legal authority to act, Secretary Paulson has still done nothing with the $700 billion that Congress handed him. Doesn't Paulson realize the urgency?

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