Business Pundit

Another day, another bailout plan revision. The Financial Times covers the details. One quote in particular caught my eye:

Hank Paulson, speaking at a press conference after the moves were announced, called for patience as authorities moved to deal with the current crisis.

The Treasury secretary said: “It is naive for any of us to think that when you’re dealing with a situation of this magnitude that a bill could be passed or a single action taken to make all the issues go away. Our focus is on stability and strengthening the financial system and we now have the tools and powers we need to work with others.’’

Uh, Hank? Didn’t you insist on a one-size-fits-all bailout bill just a couple of months ago? Wasn’t that bailout bill supposed to be executed in several phases to ensure its efficacy? Wasn’t there supposed to be just one bill?

The way the government sold the bailout bill is not the way the bill–or bills–is panning out. The initial bailout bill promised that the government would buy up toxic assets, hence the “Troubled Asset Relief Program.” Instead, Paulson is cushioning banks’ falls by guiding the through loopholes and giving them money.

Seeking Alpha’s Edward Harrison aggregated Paulson’s many bailout moves into a comprehensive list. Among the items:

Banks have gone to the Federal Reserve with dodgy assets and received trillions of dollars in loans at low rates (Fed Funds is 1% now) in return. However, the Federal Reserve refuses to reveal what assets it is taking on.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs (GS) (and American Express) became bank holding companies in order to secure low cost funding.

Troubled assets? What troubled assets?

Some smarmy producer needs to turn this into a reality TV show.