By the way, I supported the clean version of the Paulson plan. Once it was voted down in the House, it was probably inevitable it would get worse–and certainly messier–than it was initially. This is why I think Blunt, Cantor, Ryan, et al. made the right call. The problem with the “sweeteners” is that some people–the Blue Dogs–might not find them so sweet and the crazy-sounding provisions only increase the sense that Washington is incompetent and self-interested, which is driving at least some of the opposition to the bill.

UPDATE

E-mail:
Rich: I’d like to offer a revision to your last sentence. Please replace “increase the sense that Washington is incompetent” with “serve to verify that Washington is incompetent”.