Bill Shot Down!: Bailout REDUX

I trust no one. I say pass anything that allows the government to profit from the buyout and mandates some congressional oversight. There's no time to do the bill right, it's too complex and too massive to slap together even in a week.

So we need to elect Obama. After watching the debates, I'm convinced that McCain is arrogant and incompetent enough to mess this up catastrophically. If you don't want to vote for Obama because he's black or muslim, here's a deal. Vote for him anyway, and you can just direct all your racist hate at me by proxy.

The day after the inauguration, convene a panel to completely rewrite the whole dadgum thing from start to finish, with gruesome limits on CEO bonuses, mandating market transparency, new accounting rules, etc. This will take months. Get the people who disagree the most, get them in a room, and set them arguing. Publish the arguments in Congressional reporter or federal register so we can get everyone who's anyone on the record. Addd to the bill a provision that if the govt loses money on these assets, a tax on banks and their CEO's will be levied until the govt is made whole.

Simultaneously with convening this panel, launch SEC, IRS, and FBI investigations of every single trader or lawyer who ever touched a CDO, credit default swap, or mortgage derivative. Investigate them as if they were al qaeda. Prohibit any travel outside of the U.S. for all of these people. Audit the current and former CEO, CFO and board member of every one of the thirty largest banks from 2002 to the present, including an audit of their family members. I'm convinced that most of these people had no stinking idea what they were trading, or whether the thing they were trading was real or fraudulent.

All trials should be broadcast on television, and all documents posted to the internet.