Strings, Strings and More Strings

As far as I'm concerned, if a bank wants another handout, it's time to tie it up in strings. My suggestions:

Accountability for Any Prior Handounts - If the bank has received a prior infusion of bailout funds, it must provide a full accounting of the use of the funds;



An Honest Balance Sheet - Any banks who want handouts must present an honest assessment of any troubled / toxic holdings they possess, with bailout money being directed based on need. If a bank wants to pretend that its toxic holdings are worth 80 - 90 cents on the dollar (or more), we are equally entitled to pretend that they're telling the truth and that the don't need our money;

A Business Plan - Require a clear statement from the bank of how it got into this mess, and precisely how the cash it requested will help it get out.

An Insolvency Plan - In case it gets the funds and still can't get its act together, a plan for how it will enter Chapter 11 proceedings, or how it will otherwise facilitate the FDIC in arranging its takeover by another bank.

Henry Paulson doesn't appear to have the cajones to stand up to even a tiny bank, and seems happy to have bailout money wasted on huge salaries and bonuses, corporate jets, shareholder dividends, or whatever secret uses a bank may find for our money, so this will have to come from Congress.

Or, perhaps better, Congress can hang on to the remaining bailout funds for a month, until Pauson is just another historic participant in the Bush Administration's sordid legacy of failure.