President Bush\u2019s proposed solution, which he wants Congress to authorize immediately, tells taxpayers to write a check for $700 billion and trust the government and Wall Street to do the right thing \u201d\u201d with inadequate regulation and virtually no oversight.<\/p>\n
We agree with Senator Barack Obama that the administration\u2019s plan lacks regulatory muscle, and we agree with Senator John McCain when he said: \u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money, \u201d\u02dctrust me\u2019 just isn\u2019t good enough.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Nearly everyone agrees that the there will have to be another very big bailout. The financial system, gorged on its own excesses, cannot stabilize without intervention. The $700 billion would be used to buy up the bad assets that are presumably clogging the system.<\/p>\n
To protect the American taxpayer, Congress must ensure that the bailout comes with clear ground rules and vigilant oversight. In an appalling, though familiar fashion, the ground rules proposed by the Bush administration are wholly unacceptable \u201d\u201d as are its tactics.<\/p>\n