Financial markets rescue package fiasco: Death comes as the end

I don't know why the memory of Agatha Christie's Death Comes as the End flashed into my mind while I read John Batchelor's latest post. Maybe it's just the title of the murder mystery set in ancient Egypt, somehow fitting; I feel as if I'm looking at the final death throes of America's two major political parties, or the death of the two-party system ....

Senator Drama Queens by John Batchelor, posted on October 01, 2008 at John Batchelor Show website:

The Senate and the Bribe
The grand bargain is that the Senate will vote in favor of the Hank Paulson bailout plan on Wednesday evening. The plan will include some ornaments not in the original House vote, such as an increase of the FDIC limit from $100,000 to $250,000, also some tax perks, and perhaps even a nod to fixing the AMT problem.

The Senate (... the GOP Senate leaders John Kyl, Bob Bennett, Mitch McConnell, Judd Gregg, Lamar Alexander) is delighted to face this bold challenge of rescuing the rich, like drama queens facing an army of fashion week mannequins.

Delighted also because of the 500 point bribe by the traders Tuesday and perhaps another 300 on Wednesday in anticipation of the Senate's appeasing evening vote. Delighted too because those three brothers in melodrama, John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, aim to make a dash before the cameras to vote for their banking bundlers and consciences, whichever comes first.

How Cynical Are You?
On Thursday at noon, the House will get the Hank Paulson bailout plan ... along with the ornaments added in the Senate, and it will vote it over the top, either Thursday night or Friday morning, after days of badgering by the White House.

John Boehner is reported already in on the scheme to force the vote, displaying leadership quality associated with the late Lehman's.

What is this victory worth? A few hundred points on the market and some headlines, and then -- and then nothing, because the bad loans still exist.

The Paulson bailout plan will be worth even less, because it wouldn't have passed without the bribes of the markets. Members can clear the faux Roman halls and go home and campaign for election while waving the rally and avoiding remarks about the bailout or questions about what price honor?

No one is fooled. How cynical are you?