treasury

The bailout bill fails 228-205 (link goes to roll call). Per Paul Krugman:

So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch. As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.

Dow is off 681 as of posting time (moving between 500-700 off). What an unbelievable clusterfuck.

I've been busy with multiple things to really post appropriately on any recent events, but this is too important not to at least drop a note. The bailout, as it stands has three major problems, which have been voiced in many other circles (particularly by economists), but I just wanted to add to it:

1. There must be a public equity stake for the amount of money that is being injected. That's what was good about the AIG deal and stinks about this one, almost as much as point 3 below.
2. There should be something on executive compensation. Although if there is a negotiating point, this is the one to give on. I know that will piss a lot of people off, but the simple fact of the matter is that the individual compensation is a drop in the ocean compared to the bigger issues. I am also skeptical of ever being able to close all the possible loopholes. Legislating golden parachutes could take years.