Senator Jim Inhofe had some pointed criticism for Henry Paulson and his handling of the $700 Billion "blank check" he was given to buy troubled assets from financial institutions.  Inhofe criticized the treasury secretary for pushing for one plan, then changing course and going in a different direction.  Inhofe said, "He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it.''  Inhofe also went on to criticize the distribution of the money:


"It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World.

"It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.'' 


     Whether you agree or disagree with Senator Inhofe, it's pretty obvious that the bailout is being mishandled.  There was a plan that was supposed to help the credit market, but then it was abruptly changed.  Then, Congress was given a time table of about a week to pass the bailout, or we would have even bigger problems.  At the very least, Henry Paulson can be criticized for poor planning and being inept, and Congress can be blamed for allowing it to happen.



http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081116_16_A1_hHecri880405