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Tentative Deal

It’s your $700 billion, you can cry if you want to. See above for who’s going to be wearing it. Roundup:

WSJ, which ran that McCain-centric shot above, here:

… after a three-hour meeting, lawmakers agreed to legislative principles that would approve Treasury’s request for the funds, but would break it into installments. Treasury would have access to $250 billion immediately, with another $100 billion to follow if needed. Congress would be able to block the last installment through a vote if it was unhappy with the program.

The agreement could require all companies participating in the program to agree to limits on executive pay—such as restrictions on “golden parachutes.” It is also likely to give the government equity warrants in all participating companies.

Still unresolved is whether or not to include changes to bankruptcy law that would give judges the right to change the terms of mortgages. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois made a plea for it to be included, even though many lawmakers and the White House are hotly opposed.

Other parts of the agreement include: a new oversight board that would have the ability to issue “cease and desist” orders over the program, a provision that would direct most of any future profits to pay down the national debt, and some toward affordable housing.

Text of deal “principles.”

NYT, which prefered Obama up front not looking all that happy to be there with McCain grinning, looking maybe a little smug, maybe a little dopey in the background, here.

Interesting development. Awaiting their comment, but tentatively it looks like the pair of them own it now. It also looks like the decks might have been cleared for that debate. Or not:

Mr. McCain was seated at one end of a long conference table, Mr. Obama at the other, with the president and congressional leaders between them. Neither spoke, though Mr. McCain smiled broadly as reporters shouted questions that went unanswered by President Bush.

Some Republicans, ahead of the White House meeting scrambled to suggest that talk of an agreement was premature.

But lawmakers who participated in the detailed talks said that few substantive differences and no major obstacles remained.

“I now expect we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate, be signed by the president, and bring a sense of certainty to this crisis that is still roiling in the markets,” said Robertt Bennet, Republican of Utah. “That is our primary responsibility, and I think we are now prepared to meet it.”

…

A group of Republicans, led by Representative Eric Cantor, a Republican leader in the House, were circulating an alternative plan that would rely on mortgage insurance, provided by the government, rather than taxpayer purchase of frozen mortgage assets.

A senior Republican lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to undermine the party leadership, said there was a “violent reaction” among House Republicans to the Paulson plan. He said backers of the alternative, one of several that have been proposed, believe that they can force negotiators to accept it as part of a larger deal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California had made clear that she did not want to approve the bailout plan without rank-and-file Republican support.

Meanwhile, the OP confidently assures us McCain’s political manuever has been deflated. via Boston Herald. Obamist Press reports McCain’s cynical ploy involving that economy thing, in which Obama maintained the high road, all done now.

UPDATE: Good Lord. I didn’t realized things were this bad. No word on whether the bailout will address this situation. UK Telegraph, Hef to Sack Bunnies Amid Financial Crisis:

Tycoon Hugh Hefner has been advised to cut back on staff at his multi-million dollar glamour empire as it struggles to cope during the global economic turmoil.

The 83-year-old has been told to lay off some of his staff at his Los Angeles and New York offices as soon as this month or go bankrupt.

The company has recently seen shares fall from £6.20 to £1.55.

An insider at the company told the Daily Star that bosses had been aware of the worsening situation for “a while”.

“Only the top brass has known for a while how bad things have been for Hef recently.”

If that weren’t bad enough, the philandering old goat has taken another body blow … 

Holly Madison, who has previously been named as Hefner’s “No.1″ girlfriend, is alleged to have had an affair with magician Criss Angel and another bunny, Kendra Wilson, is reportedly dating football star Hank Baskett.

Playboy spokesman Rob Hillburger denied the rumours, saying: “The rumours that Holly left Hef for Criss Angel are not true. Holly and Kendra are all still living at the Mansion.”

Topics: money, pols

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 4:51 pm on Thursday, September 25, 2008

3 Responses to “Tentative Deal”

1. Fatty Bolger Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

   They rarely question anything said by Obama and his campaign, but something from the McCain camp is likely to be followed by a “but,” “however,” etc.

   See above for a perfect example: “McCain said his campaign suspension and call for a debate delay was driven by his desire to put the good of the country ahead of politics. BUT both were clearly political moves bla bla bla”

   When Obama constantly claims that McCain’s support of deregulation was the problem, where’s the BUT pointing out that McCain was one of the few people who both saw this coming and tried to do something real to prevent it?

   I thought this was an interesting take on the whole thing:
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122230704116773989.html

   According to the writer, a former hedge fund manager, the government/taxpayers are poised to make a lot of money on this deal. It makes sense, actually. When there’s a fire sale going on, the people with the cash can make a killing, while everybody else takes whatever they can get. Some of the bigger banks are going to do extremely well in the long term with companies they snapped up for (relative) peanuts, and the government could be in the same position. I don’t like the precedent it sets, though, and you should never discount a bureaucracy’s ability to screw up a sure thing.

2. RebeccaH Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 8:11 pm

   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California had made clear that she did not want to approve the bailout plan without rank-and-file Republican support.

   Does anybody else find Pelosi’s insistence a bit scary?

3. Fatty Bolger Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:34 am

   Yes, Rebecca. If the Dems are convinced that this is a good idea, then why do they need support from Republicans?

   However, I have a feeling that it’s all about political gain and nothing else (as usual with the Democratic party.) They want the bailout in order to appease the people who have been financing their campaigns, but they also want the Republicans to take the fall for it. See, the media is already trying to make it sound like McCain and the Republicans are bailing out those fellow fat cats on Wall Street, and I think the public is mostly buying it. The Democrats know that this will be proven a lie if they pass this unilaterally, and they don’t want voter anger taken out on them in the upcoming election. They want this to pass, pin the short term blame on the Republicans, and take the credit for it in the long term if things work out.

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