1. Why do they keep saying the U.S. taxpayer might make money on this deal? This is absurd. Taxpayers have absolutely no chance to see a profit off this. The Treasury is going to go into the market and buy distressed assets at discount prices. Perhaps, by some stretch of the imagination, the bond market's Fairy Godmother might come along, sprinkle a little pixie dust, and watch the bonds rise in price. But none of those gains are going to come back to the taxpayer.

 

Politicians will use the money to increase the size of other programs or to fund new entitlements. We'll never see a dime of it. The bailout plan increases the size of government. If the plan is profitable, then it increases government even more.

 

2. What's with the "this has to be done today" attitude? Just knowing there's some sort of plan on the table has stabilized the financial markets. We're not seeing runs on banks. And we're not seeing massive redemptions in money market funds. So why the constant call for urgency? It reminds me of when I was 18 years old and buying my first car. The salesman gave me a price and insisted, "This is only good for right now. If you get up and leave, then the deal leaves, too."

 

Unless you're getting out of the way of a hurricane, or running out of a burning building, few important decisions have to be made right away. Something doesn't smell right about this.

 

3. How come no one talks about Section 8 of the plan? Section 8 reads as follows...

 

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

 

Does it bother anyone else that the Treasury is asking for complete and total discretion to do whatever it wants with the U.S. economy?