NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

Let’s start with this:

In a letter that will be sent to Pelosi and Boehner, the Blue Dogs, led in this case by Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), are calling for a future tax to be imposed on financial services companies if taxpayers lose money on the bailout package.

Tanner pitched the idea at a Blue Dog meeting on Wednesday, and again at a House Democrat Caucus on Thursday. Tanner is circulating a draft letter to Pelosi, Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The proposal will only become an official Blue Dog policy position if two-thirds of the group supports it, a threshold that hasn’t been reached yet.

Tanner and other Blue Dogs see this provision as an “insurance policy” for taxpayers, and it would amount to a 2 percent “fee” on taxable income of financial services firms.

“Prudent investors protect themselves when making high-risk investments. The taxpayer is essentially being asked to make a high-risk investment to provide much needed liquidity to the financial markets. As stewards of the taxpayer’s money, we should insure against any potential losses that might result from this action. For these reasons, we feel it is imperative Congress include a recoupment clause in TARP [Troubled Assets Relief Policy],” the Blue Dogs said in a draft letter to Pelosi, Boehner and Senate leaders. TARP is the formal name of the Wall Street bailout package.

I have to give a hat tip to Jon for this one, who writes this:

The Blue Dogs are really good to have around on an issue like this, and I might even say they’re the ideal people to look to here for leadership — representatives of the conservative taxpayer who nonetheless recognize that doing nothing isn’t an option, and aren’t inflexibly bound by a rigid dogma that retards their ideas.

Jon and I agree that this really is the only time we agree with the Blue Dogs philosophy because on how they vote on other issues.

We are going to bail out Wall Street. There isn’t any getting around it although the thought that this is happening on my version of Main Street, we will be doing it anyway. People are hurting everywhere and if one, and I mean, ONE, Wall Street exec gets a bonus for bad behavior, the local sheriff is just going to have to come and get me as I will be stopping traffic in the road.

With that said, I want oversights. I don’t want blank checks. And I want the little guys to be recognized.

I have to be accountable with the bank. So should the government and Wall Street.