Bush's Bailout Speech - I'm not sure I agree with all the details but I think this is one time I have heard a speech by Bush that sounded presidential

Apparently at least some oversight and rules are going to accompany this bailout. seems Congress and the President agreed earlier today to place limits on the CEO pay and bonuses for the companies that the taxpayers will be buying up.

Hopefully the final product will have some additional thot and care and it won't just be a give-away to the already wealthy but irresponsible CEOs who created this disaster.

The emphasis on getting cheap credit flowing (hence more debts) might not be the best long term idea. I think throwing credit around too easily for too long is part of the problem.

I do think doing nothing at this point would torpedo what remains of our economy but I just want to feel like whatever steps are taken are reasonable and responsible as possible. I'm not necessarily against rules and regulations - without any the free market would not survive the greed and callousness of a few. I think governments can play a role in encouraging certain industries and controlling the negative impacts of other areas of the economy. It does worry me that the party that fundamentally believes that the government can't do any good is now being handed the responsibility to regulate and rescue an industry (wall street) that they have spent the last 20 years trying desperately to de-regulate.

I guess the next few days will give us more details.

Finally, the request by John McCain to cancel the first presidential debate on Friday night, and then actually saying he has "suspended his campaign" in order for him to "work on the economy" ... I'm a bit baffled ... it strikes me as desperate and weak and probably won't do him any favors, especially if he ends up doing the debate anyway. We need a President who can handle more than one issue at a time. In a crisis would McCain need to take a time out from all of the other responsibilities of being president in order to deal with it?

The weather has cooled down but the political temperature sure has kicked up dramatically over the last few days.