Hope

Regarding the Big Blank Check that Paulson & Co. have asked for, I sure hope that Obama comes out and says something like this:

The Bush Administration has finally realized that it has a major economic crisis on its hands. However, the solution proposed by the White House – give Henry Paulson a big blank check and just trust him – is clearly unacceptable. This was tried with Iraq and look where it got us. Bush, Paulson and Bernanke have had months to address these problems, and they’ve simply failed. We cannot "just trust them" any longer. When the White House proposal comes to the Congress next week, I will be proposing an amendment to the bill substituting new language that I believe will address the fundamental problems facing our economy – falling housing prices, crushing consumer debt, rising unemployment, institutional insolvency, and rampant Wall Street greed and corruption. It will be a comprehensive approach that is also transparent. It will be bipartisan.

In essence, it will be everything the Bush-Paulson plan currently is not. Should the Paulson Plan reach the Senate floor in its current state, I will vote against it. Should the Administration adopt my proposals to protect homeowners, bolster employment, hold corporate executives accountable, and minimize the impact on taxpayers, then I will happily give my full support to their efforts.

Time to show that judgment trumps experience.