SO, I just saw this as my browser homepage opened on the Doonesbury page at Slate.com:
“It’s not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
– Treasury spokes- woman on the $700B bailout figure 
This kind of worries me. It means that no real analysis of this has been done. Before we start throwing money at the problem, shouldn’t there be better analysis?

It’s a good thing that members of Congress are slowing the passage of the $700 billion bailout. (Dems want to add provisions to help “regular” folk, and conservative GOP types think the bailout is downright irresponsible.) The reason why is simple: This proposal, as submitted by the Treasury Department, is scary.
Yes, scary.
I’ve read on both Taxgirl and at My Two Dollars that the language of the proposal does not allow for any oversight of the Secretary of the Treasury as he doles out taxpayer funds to help save Wall Street firms. Here are some of the basics of what this …read more