BAILOUT UPDATE….The New York Times reports that both Democratic and Republican leaders have reached “general agreement” on a bailout bill:
One plan under consideration would release $250 billion immediately, with another $100 billion available at the discretion of the president.
[Lawmakers] also said that there would be limits on pay packages for executives whose firms seek assistance from the government and a mechanism for the government to be given an equity stake in some firms so that taxpayers have a chance to profit if the companies prosper in the months and years ahead.
The Wall Street Journal says mortgage relief is still up in the air:
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.
There still aren’t many details, and I guess the main question now is whether McCain and Obama will sign on. McCain, of course, has a pretty big incentive to continue playing politics since this all happened before he could dramatically swoop in and take credit for some bold leadership, and in any case agreeing to it would allow tomorrow’s debate to go forward. So I imagine he’ll find something to object to. Obama’s motives are a little murkier, so it’s harder to guess what he’ll do. Homeowner protection was one of his five core demands for the bill, however, so it seems unlikely he’ll sign on unless there’s at least something along those lines in the bill.
Beyond that, who knows? McCain is so unbalanced these days that there’s really no telling what’s going to happen next. In the meantime, I’m going to go eat lunch.
