Mountain Sage

According to PBS the cost of the earmarks in the bailout bill comes to approximately $150 BILLION.  To put that in some perspective, that is also the approximate cost of the economic stimulus package and of course that is just the financial cost.  Almost importantly is the emotional cost….the Senate proved they couldn’t be trusted [...]

In a vote of 263-171 the House approved the bailout bill passed previously by the Senate.
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: October 3, 2008
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives gave final approval on Friday to the $700 billion bailout for the financial system, reversing course to authorize what may be the most expensive government intervention in history.
The [...]

Bailout bill faces crunch US House test
by Stephen Collinson 2 hours, 23 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The House of Representatives Friday haggled over a revised version of a 700-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout, with leading Democrats optimistic the package would pass this time.
“Today we vote on a piece of legislation that is an imperfect option and [...]

For link and info on the 451 page bill click
Adding Sweeteners, Senate Passes Bailout Plan
By CARL HULSE 16 minutes ago
The Senate strongly endorsed the $700 billion economic bailout plan, leaving backers hopeful that the easy approval, coupled with an array of popular additions, would lead to passage in the House by Friday.
In stark contrast [...]

The 3 page bill originally introduced became 110 pages in the House and now in the Senate has become a staggering 451 page bill. (pdf file)
According to Hot Air here are some of the goodies the Senate added:
New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for [...]

Donald Trump has an interesting take on the bailout bill not passing….he says there is a silver lining to the crisis cloud.

Here is a link to the 110 page draft of the ‘‘Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008’’.
One thing I’m glad to see in the bill is this:
(C) a prohibition on the financial institution making any golden parachute payment to its senior executive officer during the period that the Secretary holds an equity or debt position [...]