They Want A Cut By: Mark W Adams

That's the only reason I can think that the recalcitrant House Republicans and John McCain torpedoed the bailout deal, offering instead an 11th hour tax cut/privatization/deregulation scheme (typical). They want a piece of the action in order to line their own pockets and those of their friends.

Comparing the upside of the Paulson plan (as modified by Chris Dodd) to the Louisiana Purchase John Feehery notes that this could be the deal of the century, any century.

I thought of the Louisiana Purchase as I saw Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson defend his bailout plan. Paulson is a smart business guy, and he knows the first principle of finance is to buy low and sell high.

Andy Kessler wrote in The Wall Street Journal yesterday that the Paulson plan may be a similarly good deal for the American taxpayers.

As Kessler says, “My analysis suggests that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson … may pull off the mother of all trades, which could net a trillion dollars, and maybe as much as $2.2 trillion — yes, with a t — for the United States Treasury.”

He goes on to say, “You can slice the numbers a lot of different ways. My calculations, which assume 50 percent impairment on subprime loans, suggest it is possible, all in, for this portfolio to generate between $1 trillion and $2.2 trillion — the greatest trade ever. Every hedge fund manager will be jealous.”

Yeah, I'm skeptical too. The only reason I give this idea that there might be a lucrative upside on this is the way it's been sold -- not with optimism and emphasizing the potential debt reduction angle, but with fear and panic inducing big numbers pulled out of a hat.