This is not going to be fun.

I have been out of touch a bit over the past 4 or 5 days, so I am just catching up...and this bail-out plan really has me worried, from a political perspective. I agree with Kos that this could derail things both if/when Obama takes office, and as part of the campaign (depending how the Dems handle it):

Yet witness the Democratic leadership looking to enable this fiscal handcuffing of the next administration, scared into rash action because a crisis that has been ongoing for months -- and long-denied by Bush and McCain ("the fundamentals are strong!") -- is now so pressing that decades of mismanagement are supposed to be fixed in five days. Ridiculous.

Throw a few guys with suits and suitcases into a room with our Democratic leadership, and they wilt. Pathetic. It's up to the Democratic rank and file, and situational allies on the Right (even the crazy ones), to stop or dramatically reform this mess.

It worries me that the Dem leadership could help to destroy the election by pushing this legislation and joining Bush in this panic. Why, all of a sudden, do we need to rush into $700 billion in a few days (they won't use the money right away, anyway), instead of 5 months from now? Ed Kilgore, I think, has it about right:

Democrats are right to demand significant substantive concessions before offering their support for the Paulson Plan. But just as importantly, they need to demand Republican votes in Congress, including the vote of John McCain. If this is going to be a "bipartisan" relief plan, it has to be fully bipartisan, not an opportunity for McCain to count on Obama and other Democrats to save the economy while exploiting their sense of responsibility to win the election for the party that let this crisis occur in the first place.

Worrisome...