Can we get this deal done, please?

I've been watching the stock market yo-yo and the liquidity markets freeze up while we wait for the on-again, off-again bailout plan. At this point, tt doesn't matter which party was responsible for the failure--either one could have produced the 12 additional votes that were needed for passage. The U.S. Senate plans to vote tonight on a modified bailout plan that keeps the basics of the plan voted on last Monday, but adds some tax benefits for individuals and small businesses, and raises the maximum per-account level of FDIC insurance from $100,000 to $250,000. Whether these sweeteners are enough to get the 12 additional votes needed in the House, let alone hold onto the votes that the original bill got, remains to be seen.

The lack of safeguards that I complained about in a post on my "Feldman File" blog was addressed in the version of the bill that originally went to the Senate. While I despise what got us to this place--the almost complete disconnection of capital from its underlying risk that's led us to having no idea how much more than a trillion dollars of securitized mortgages and other debts are really worth--we have to act. We've got to make sure that people can still get home, car and student loans, and that businesses can buy inventory, meet their payrolls and keep their doors open.

As I write this, it appears that "the tide is turning" with members of the House who voted against the original bill. Their "call ratio" from constituents is turning in favor of the plan, thus giving them the political cover that they need to vote for the revised bill. However, I won't count on anything until the bill passes both Houses of Congress and is signed into law by the President.