Bailout deal reached for real this time

The Wall Street Journal reports a real deal on the bailout plan, with the major players in both parties confirming.

The deal doesn't mean that the bill automatically sails through the House and Senate to land on President Bush's desk, of course. Lawmakers still need to vote on it, and negotiators have not necessarily sold their respective parties on the deal. But they at least expect enough Republicans to vote for it to provide coverage for Democrats who won't go out on a limb without member of the other party inching out on the limb with them.

Voters don't seem to like the idea of the bailout.

I'm not crazy about it in principle, either--but the alternative to passing an effective bill (even if substantially flawed) is the worse of two evils.

Grin and bear it. With luck the debt purchased by the government will end up worth a good bit, and Republican leadership will have helped earmark (do I have to use that word?) the profits for debt reduction instead of new government spending.

And hopefully Obama won't get the chance to dig the hole deeper.