Bush and the Bailout

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a2PslgpVvrCI&refer=home

According to several different sources, President Bush has lost the support and faith of Congress in this issue of the bailout. The bill, a now 400+ page document (began as two-and-a-half) filled with extra earmarks, was finally passed last week and signed into law by the president. The result of this process, however, has been rather revealing about the state of the administration as well as the lack of faith that Congress has in it. The initial failure of the bill, caused by disagreement in the administration's own party, shows this lack of unity/support/ect. which exists within the party and the administration. The above source and several others suggest that the President had to go to desperate measures of various "arm-bending and begging" of the Congress in order to pass the bailout. Such extents would suggest a serious lack of power in the Presidency, which is already bottoming out in approval ratings, especially in such critical times as this economic emergency. Clearly, the trust in President Bush has waned. In order to sign the bill he almost certainly must have compromised with whatever stipulations that Congress put on it, and the situation in general has an air of desperation on the President's part.