...Is what I'd say if he wasn't such an important member of the Senate right now. His plan for the bailout:
[Dodd's legislation] requires Treasury to take an equity stake equal to the purchase price of the assets being bought. If the company isn't publicly traded, the government would take senior debt instead, placing it in the front of the line of debt holders for repayment in the event of a bankruptcy.
Dodd's proposal also would create a five-member oversight board to supervise the Treasury secretary's purchase and sale of distressed mortgage debt.
Krugman has already voiced his approval. How could we ever settle for anything that didn't give us a stake in the profitability of these banks? Politically, and in almost every other respect, Senator Dodd's proposal underscores how ridiculous Bush and Paulson's bailout really is -- making Paulson's plan seem a thousand times more like a proxy-robbery at gunpoint.
UPDATE: Paulson is caving and appears to be accepting Dodd's equity proposal.