So, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank are freaked out. They see the U.S. financial system, interlocked as it is with every other economy in the world, as teetering on the verge of a depression, the likes of which we have never seen before.
To stave off this fate, they want to bail out the Wall Street firms at the center of the storm. They want around $800 billion. Where would they get it? The Fed just has it printed, that's where.
Hoping for a fast, bipartisan coalition to approve their plan, the Bush administration officials instead have run into a bipartisan coalition opposing it. Both Democrats and Republicans have questions for the officials that they cannot answer.
Adding to the pressure; it's an election year. Accordingly, all other issues have faded -- the weakness of the economy and what to do about it is the only political issue that matters right now.
This couldn't have been scripted better. The trouble is that it isn't a movie. And it won't necessarily have a happy ending...
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