It's in all the papers, with the story pretty much the same. Here's the New York Time's article Congress Nears Bailout Deal in Intense Push from a little after midnight. Here is a later reportwith more details also from the Times.
This deal could still fall apart because of an interesting phenomenon. While polls show that about a third of Americans are for some generic Bailout, with a third against, and the final third undecided, the feedback from legislators is quite different.
Those who call, write and email their legislators, those who feel a part of our political system, are overwhelmingly, and vehemently opposed to a bailout. While this is partly because of the misconception that there will be an expenditure of 700 billion dollars, approximately the amount we have spent on the Iraq war; while, in fact, most of the outlay will be recouped over time; there is much more to the anger.
There is outrage that those leaders of financial companies like that which Secretary Hank Paulson was CEO of, are being bailed out even though they were responsible for this. While I'm not the one to explain it, since like most people, I only have weak grasp of derivatives and credit swaps, the potential of these elaborate devices for sinking the economy has been known for a long time.
It was documented by Warren Buffett referring to them as "Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction" in a public letter to his shareholders in 2002. Yet, Alan Greenspan, George W. Bush, Chris Cox who ran the SEC, and yes, Henry Paulson did absolutely nothing about it.
And President Bush refuses even to this day to order the Department of Justice to expend resources appropriate to investigate, indict and convict those who committed overt fraud. It is this, as much as the actual economics of the bailout, that is causing the rage against this.
And I share it completely. We all know the speaker and the occasion of this speech:
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance
It was an inspiring speech, but FDR's prescription to bring the country out of Depression wasn't quite accurate. While it is fear that can precipitate a depression as people draw their money out of banks and refuse to take risks or to make purchases, once the system is down, the fear is self perpetuating. The Depression never really ended until there was an artificial need for full employment, America's entrance into WW II.
Perhaps the words of Roosevelt have been misconstrued just a bit. For the last few generations, those in the forefront of finance were imbued with the libertarian motto, "Greed is Good" That it was such greed that energized the "invisible hand" that provided all good things to people, and that government had no right to impede this process. It was those without fear, the fearless who cared not about their own failure, or its consequences that thrived in this culture.
This spirit, if not the words, are still spoken by President Bush as recently as this Friday. His concern is that we not use this bailout to restrict competitiveness of our businesses. He will still not acknowledge that those who make decisions that can lead to the destruction of their financial corporations, hurt more than their shareholders, from this day forward we know that they put our entire country at risk.
The only way to seal the refutation of what this crisis, whether it is avoided or still occurs, has taught us is to reject the radical fiscal libertarianism that has come to define the Republican party. Nothing more clearly illustrates this than the Secretary of Treasury literally begging on his knees for the Democratic Speaker of the House for the public funds to keep the economy afloat.
No longer shall we allow anyone say that government has no place in the financial markets. No longer can we accept the archaic concept of "Caveat Emptor" Let the Buyer Beware, when Mortgage Contracts can be an indecipherable hundred pages of fine print. Let those who write such deceitful contracts be the ones to beware, and to fear for the consequences of perpetrating such outrages.
While John McCain rushed to Congress to try to pretend that he was engaged in resolution of this crisis, he did nothing but give some rear guard encouragement to those who still don't understand the perverse power to destroy our economy, and with it our democracy, of unfettered capitalism.
Obama should make the demand on Bush that he aggressively investigate those who may have committed fraud in obtaining and securitizing mortgages. There should be a task force of FBI agents, and federal prosecutors to fan out across the nation. Obama should channel the anger that so many of us feel over the fraud that allowed this aspect of the larger credit crisis to develop. Those who by their greed bring a country to crisis should know fear, and plenty of it.
And yes, Obama should meet with all national leaders of the global economy, with NO PRECONDITIONS, in addressing this world wide problem. If this be socialistic, then so be it.
The timing of this crisis, if it had to be, is ideal for this election. And this election,, should be the beginning of the end of the radical anti-government fiscal libertarianism, that still threatens to destroy our country.