Why the President didn't call an "all hands on deck" state-of-the-union type address in prime time before the entire Congress in the capital and broadcast on every TV channel is beyond me. Instead he did a couple of walk-thru short speeches in the morning from the rose garden. With a major address, he could have spent as much time as he needed to explain the risks of not passing the bailout/restructuring/economic rescue, or whatever name he put on the program to both the Congress and the public. It's not as if some very smart and experienced people didn't predict exactly what is now happening and could have assisted Bush in explaining how the existence of the "toxic" mortgage loans would impact the financial system. In fact, I would have found it very impressive if both Senators McCain and Obama came together and supported the President in selling the program. Instead, they brought their campaign back to the capital and further confused the negotiations by bringing in their partisan and backward-looking arguments.

So now, on Monday afternoon, more than twice the amount of the proposed bailout has been lost from the collective wealth of the public, with much more likely as the economy continues to shut down. Only now the members of Congress are realizing the losses and pain their narrow-minded inaction has and will cause to the public. And now, I'll bet that as soon as they get back from their holiday recess, they'll pass something in a New York minute. There will be more posturing and partisan sniping and then they'll head home and campaign like crazy so that they can be re-elected to those sweet jobs with all the lobbyist contributions beginning in the 111th Congress.

If the public is smart, they'll throw them all out and let them get a real job and try to make a living like we do, without the big money coming from the special interest lobbyists. There's only a couple of them that I'll have anything to say about and I already know how I'll vote.