Akkam’s Razor

First off, the die has been cast. No matter how much money we’ve thrown at the situation, it will simply have the effect of taking your shoes off at the airport - creating an illusion of safety. Post-bailout, we will have $1.3T reasons to feel that all will be well, and that the disaster has passed. But those will be illusions.

What will end up happening is that the Democrats will put together a plan, which Paulson will repeatedly reject, and which the GOP will say is proof positive that Democrats hate America, Main Street, and Wall Street. Then, once the Democrats cave in from the asymmetric pressure, a significant portion of the “fiscal conservatives”, including the Maverick, will vote against it, for the same effect, stating that Democrats are just tax and spend liberals who want to expand the government. All the while, the corporate-owned media will circle the wagons and provide covering-fire. As both Digby and Josh Marshall have stated, this will be a political tool - disaster capitalism at its finest.

In the meantime, Paulson will negotiate for the best deal he can get, but not for his constituents - the US Treasury and the taxpayer - but rather the investor class and Wall Street. This is natural, and it must be balanced by Congress to favor their constituency - the American citizen.I’ve seen one interpretation that the refusal of oversight is essentially a rehash of the Telecom Immunity push - retroactive financial immunity.

The Democrats should stick it up their asses, tell them to own their failures, and offer them a workout, not a bailout. The only political entity with a lower approval rating than George Bush, excluding Dick Cheney, has been Congress. The American people, by an overwhelming margin put the blame for this economic mess squarely on Republican shoulders . If they talked tough to Wall Street, both Main Street and Joe Sixpack would be immensely grateful. Unfortunately, their addiction to campaign contributions will likely keep that from happening.

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