Well…I suppose the Democrats need to start from scratch now rather than using anything emanating from the Treasury Department. Nothing that smells too much like the Paulson Plan is likely to fare any better than this bill did. We still are staring at the Republican filibuster in the Senate, which means we’re still quite limited in what we can hope to do. The Democrats are in a minefield. The path of least resistance may well be to craft something that can win over House Republicans. But, at the same time, there is a considerable wedge available between the Senate Republicans and the administration, and the House GOP. Finding the seam there will take expert statescraft.
If not for the filibuster, this would be an easy call. Appease some of the 94 Democrats in the House and pass a take it or leave it bill. That may still be the answer. I advocate an approach that seeks to force a Republican filibuster over the administration’s objections. But, for me, this has entered into truly perilous ground. And some very irresponsible people are to blame. No one is more to blame than Paulson, who never, ever should have sent his 3-page plan up to the Hill. There was no recovering from that.
