I'll bid $50,000 for 3 more zeros in par. #7

This is simply pathetic. We have a first-class auction going on in Washington, with billions of dollars in assets and tax breaks on the table, and who's in charge?
Not an auctioneeer.
Instead, we have an assortment of unindicted politicians sorting out bids and writing new entries in the Wall Street bailout bill.
No wonder we get so little for our money.
What we need in that room is an auctioneer who knows the meaning of the covert wink, the three fingers in the air, the shoulder shrug. How else are the bill's authors going to know who has high bid?.
Professionalism, that's what congress lacks.
They're selling the country, piece by piece, and all they're getting for it is a trip here, a lavish dinner there, tens of thousands of dollars in camplaign contributins and who knows what else.
Here, I specifically exclude Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, who is accused of hauling in a freezer-size payoff, is under indictment, and also is running for reelection. You have to put that down as superior performance.
The thing to do now is put an auctioneer in charge.
Don't let some future Mark Twain say there are two things a human being should never see - sausage being made and laws being passed.