Term of the Day

"Financial Terrorism" - That is what a caller last night on Michael Savage named this bailout proposal. Another analogy would be Don Corleone who liked to "make an offer you can't refuse;" stuff some cotton balls in Hank Paulson's cheeks and I think you could get a dead-on impression.

Ultimately, while this bailout deal might be in the best interest for our country, the language being used by the administration is fairly reminiscent of language used to push through the ill-conceived Patriot Act, and the War on Terror in general.

The leadership being offered by both parties is somewhat lacking. Both are skeptical, though the Democrats seem to be a bit more grown-up in their proposals; as opposed to John McEdwards who somehow thinks qualified people will want to be high-ranking managers of hundred billion dollar companies for $400K per year. There is a reason why they call elected office "public service," because generally you don't do it to get rich in the short run (though, long run, it can be quite lucrative).

Wall Street firms are not charities (though they are happy to accept some), and so it doesn't make sense to limit CEO pay to $400K per year. Now, ending "golden parachutes" makes sense, because it seems unreasonable for a company to pay a CEO a multi-million dollar severance package if they are being fired for incompetence or poor performance.

The deal ultimately offered by the Federal Government should be punitive enough to make companies look elsewhere before hopping on the Government dole, but not so punitive as to incentive's corporate board members to completely bankrupt their companies before accepting the Federal Government's help. What that entails, I don't know, but the idea that it must be decided in a week is somewhat extreme...perhaps a cooling off period where these corporate executives have a chance to sit in their rooms and think about what they've done is what we need.