Sec. Paulson Wants To Be Your Daddy:

David Brooks of The New York Times explains how Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson intends to become your daddy, at least for the next few months. The "trust me, and don't watch" bailout plan put forward by Paulson and backed by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke allows no room for oversight or transparency of any sort.

Critics have pointed out that the current bum rush to act is highly reminiscent of the lead up to the Iraq war, which was based on blatant lies and the purpose of which, we now know, was simply to enrich Bush/Cheney cronies through massive privatization at taxpayers' expense.

Brooks, a conservative Republican, points out that "[t]he market for credit-default swaps alone has exploded to $45.5 trillion, up from $900 billion in 2001."

Anil K Kashyap and Jeremy C Stein provide some insightful speculation on how the Paulson process might play out. The most positive outlook seems to be that the Fed will be buying cheap and eventually selling dear, which will, in the long run, enrich the federal coffers, thus repaying the American taxpayer. However, the Bushites have had a long standing policy of giving away much of the American government to privateers, who inturn become fabulously wealthy at the expense of the American taxpayers, while services become restricted to only those wealthy enough to afford them.

The Dude explains his economic policy: "We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." — George W. Bush, Trenton, New Jersey, Sep. 23, 2002.