This is one of those days in which things happen so fast it makes your head spin. I’ll confine myself to passing on some random observations.
First, a point that seems obvious, upon reflection. Dean Baker points out that there must definitely be something wrong with a bailout proposal that has corporations clamoring to be bailed:
If the bailout were properly structured, firms would not be lining up to get in. It should be a last resort that involves selling most of the firm to the government, as happened with AIG. If banks are lining up to get in, then the people who designed the bailout should be chased out of town.
Our senior senator, the good one, is showing Democrats the way to fight back. He’s proposed a bailout plan that has Krugman’s imprimatur, and appears to address most of the questions that I’ve seen raised about the Paulson giveaway. There are reports that Paulson and Bush are giving way, but they are preliminary as far as I can see. It’s hard to believe Bush won’t revert to form, but the Democrats can and must win on this one. Among other things, if they cave they will make Obama look weak, since they will essentially be abandoning his plan. So far as I can see, McCain is essentially sheltering in Obama’s shade; he isn’t really proposing anything, but he’s making noises that he can hope to turn to his advantage if the Democrats beat Bush back. He’ll be leading from behind, so to speak. By the way, if the Dems do hold firm, they’ll prove my Saturday morning prediction at least partlywrong, for which I will bless them. I did half predict that the Dems would cave, it was, shall we say, implicit in my argument.
Speaking of Bush, he finally has indeed brought us all together. ” A new American Research Group poll shows that “[n]o Americans say that the national economy is getting better”. Who says you can fool some of the people all of the time? I don’t think you could get 100% of the people in this country to agree that up isn’t down. Bush’s approval is down to 19%, by the way.
It’s easy to see why Paulson doesn’t want to touch executive compensation. These guys have been practically starving:
ABC News reports: In 2007, Wall Street’s five biggest firms — Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley — paid a record $39 billion in bonuses to themselves. That’s $10 billion more than the $29 billion loan taxpayers are making to J.P. Morgan to save Bear Stearns.
And they deserved every penny, since they had a tough year, inasmuch as they “collectively lost about $74 billion” for their stockholders that year. It’s hard work losing that much money, but really, these guys have had it tough. Shouldn’t their bonuses have been at least equal to what they managed to lose?
On another front, we now learn that Sarah Palin’s proximity to Alaska gives her, according to the McCain campaign, “metaphorical” foreign policy experience. I wonder if having a rich fantasy life also qualifies one to be president, providing of course you have political fantasies. How about dreams?
That’s all I’ve got. Tomorrow I’ll be live blogging from Groton Democratic Headquarters. I will be pecking away while my wife and other conscientious Democrats help assure an Obama/Courtney victory in these parts. They also serve who only sit and blog.
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