Paulson *IS* the smartest guy in the room!

My wife & I were discussing the bailout yesterday, and all the various and sundry ways it has been mismanaged.

"Paulson's an idiot," I opined.

"No, he's a genius," my wife retorted.

Stunned, I sat at a loss for words. What essential fact could I be missing that would turn him from a moron to a genius? Maybe he really does have a plan to turn this all around, some brilliant 11th hour, hail-mary, go-for-broke, movie-ending twist that will put all the pieces in place. Everything will finally make sense and we could all have a good laugh about "the time when we thought the Treasury Secretary was out to screw us." But what twist be could that be?? I'll admit, I couldn't see it.

"He got everything he wanted... he got Congress to give him $700 billion with no strings attached. That's pretty damn smart."

And so's my wife. Now why can't Congress dig deep, find some balls, and start doing what's right for the people?