securitize this!

Remember the last "blank check" the Congress handed to President George W. Bush? I believe one Congressperson voted against this blank check and she was hounded on all sides. What did she know at the time that the other 534 members of Congress didn't?

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The main argument for "swift passage" of this $700 billion dollar blank check seems to be psychological: we need to restore "confidence" in the economic system for the confidence men and women who will then resume gambling.

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Americans have a predilection for seeking "something for nothing".+

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Wall Street opposes restrictions on executive compensation for financial operations which are selected for this bail out. Maybe a salary cap would be a more palatable option (it works for the NFL, NHL, and NBA).

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I've been taught to believe that market discipline should apply on both the bottom and top rungs of the economic ladder. If you fail, you fail: this is Social Darwinism 101. To reward failure is Un-American (aren't public school systems ending "social promotion"?). Suddenly unemployed finance bankers can apply for the public relief that's available through TANF as long as they participate in workfare (many streets in lower Manhattan need sweeping). The two year limit on this public relief is the stick that will incentivize them not to become dependent on welfare.

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Is it possible that a sleeper cell of irresponsible financiers actually posed a more significant threat to the American Way of Life than Saddam Hussein? How many Iraq wars could be fought (and won!) for $700 billion?

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+ Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America (NY: Penguin, 2004)