From the could-not-make-it-up department (well, the New York Times actually):
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
And from George Bush:
If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down.
Yes, Mr President. We could certainly see some disruption in the markets.
The short version of this bungled bailout story is that while the Democrats feel duty bound to support the TARP, they don’t want their fingerprints on a plan that is likely to weigh on the nation’s finances for years. That means the Republicans have to take “ownership” if agreement is to be reached before Monday morning. But John Boehner, leader of the republicans in the House, wants a rather smaller package than Hank Paulson is pleading for. John McCain, meanwhile, doesn’t know which way to turn – so he hasn’t.
All of which makes us wonder which discussions congressman Paul Kanjorski had been involved in that led him to declare on CNBC on Thursday:
We’ve created a battleship. We’re ready to go to war. We’re saying we’re committing the full forces of the American people and the American government to solve an economic crisis …
Related links
The Morons’ Moron Guide to Economic Salvation – Naked Shorts
The Bailout, A Play – Johnny Debacle