On my blog,I generously gave it a C-minus before reading either one. Besides, Mallaby's column, while it has some better alternatives on the bailout side, ignores what I blogged about — namely, that Dems have a golden opportunity to insist not only on new regulatory standards, but beyond that, on new regulatory requirements.

Beyond that, I note that 2 years is wayyy too short a period for a bad-assets auction framework, McCain pulls a Palin in calling for a federal authority that already pretty much exists, and that ...

There's about a 5 percent chance Reid and Pelosi will stand up to Paulson and Bernanke in a game of brinkmanship.

In other words, you're going to get screwed not just royally but bipartisanly. Welcome to the duopoly.

Although it's way to early what's going to be inside the bailout legislation, I argue that, despite Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's tough-guy "no more bailouts" language less than a full week ago, the speculators likely won.

Tips to watch for:
• Do we do things like a surtax on the rich, or finally getting Chuck Schumer's beloved hedge fund managers taxed as income recipients and not earners of  capital gains? And, other Dems are "on the clock" in my book, too.
• Do we have financial regulation attached to the bill, and not just new authority, but new regulatory mandates? (I run a weekly "Intrade" at my blog and will include the chances of that happening in my Saturday night odds making.

What's this say for the future of capitalism? Across the pond, the Guardian rounds up the take from the best of the Euro-left; I have a summary.

Finally, can somebody tell me where Richard Perle is? The way our economy has crumbled in the past few months, you'd swear the neocons were in charge of it as well as foreign policy.

Romans 13 says —
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities. ... He who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has established. ... Rulers hold no terror for those who do right.”

New House offshore drilling bill — how bad?

Why is Sarah Palin rebelling against God over Troopergate? Why won’t she read Romans 13 and submit to the governing authorities within the Alaska Legislature?

Why has Alaskan Attorney General Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg  become 2 Thessalonians' man of lawlessness on her behalf?

Maybe she is the Whore of Wasilla, if not Revelation 17's Whore of Babylon.

An “Obama campaign” statement on Rove’s Sunday morning comment not only is weak tea, it ignores the strategic possibilities of Obama ads saying “I’m Karl Rove and I approve this message,” targeted in swing-state/suburban swing area voting blocs.

The set-up is simple, and in the ad close, as I narrate at my blog.