Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, except that right now everyone wants a little piece of it. The mob has been chanting for months, ever since former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in late September on Capitol Hill to warn of disaster, pass around his three-page plan and demand $700 billion to fix the problem. Most members of Congress were so spooked they were ready to write a check, until their phone lines started melting with the angry voices of taxpayers demanding details about the likely return on the investment. But even the minimal strings attached did not prevent the first $350 billion from vanishing, with the government overpaying about $78 billion for the assets it bought. The banks told pesky reporters and congressional watchdogs that how they spent the bailout cash was really none of their business. And now, Tim Geithner informs us, the financial system needs $2 trillion more.
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