IMO, this victory is quite a demonstration of Obama's leadership, even before he has all the legal authority of a President!
What's your opinion?
From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/business/28bailout.html
Breakthrough Reached in Negotiations on Bailout
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON--Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative agreement early Sunday on what may become the largest financial bailout in American history, authorizing the Treasury to purchase $700 billion in troubled debt from ailing firms in an extraordinary intervention to prevent widespread economic collapse. Officials said that Congressional staff members would work through the night to finalize the language of the agreement and draft a bill, and that the bill would be brought to the House floor for a vote on Monday. The bill includes pay limits for some executives whose firms seek help, aides said. And it requires the government to use its new role as owner of distressed mortgage-backed securities to make more aggressive efforts to prevent home foreclosures. In some cases, the government would receive an equity stake in companies that seek aid, allowing taxpayers to profit should the rescue plan work and the private firms flourish in the months and years ahead. The White House also agreed to strict oversight of the program by a Congressional panel and conflict-of-interest rules for firms hired by the Treasury to help run the program. ....
Congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. emerged from behind closed doors to announce the tentative agreement at 12:30 a.m. Sunday, after two days of marathon meetings. In the final hours of negotiations ... a series of phone calls was taking place, including conversations between Ms. Pelosi and President Bush; between Mr. Paulson and the two presidential candidates, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama; and between the candidates and top lawmakers. A senior administration official who participated in the talks said the deal was effectively done. 'I know of no unresolved open issues for principals,' the official said. ....
In announcing a tentative agreement, lawmakers and the administration achieved their goal of sending a reassuring message ahead of Monday¡s opening of the Asian financial markets. ... Among the last sticking points was an unexpected and bitter fight over how to pay for any losses that taxpayers may experience after distressed debt has been purchased and resold. Democrats had pushed for a fee on securities transactions, essentially a tax on financial firms, saying it was fitting that they contribute to the cost. In the end, lawmakers and the administration opted to leave the decision to the next president, who must present a proposal to Congress to pay for any losses. Officials said they had also agreed to include a proposal by House Republicans that gives the Treasury secretary an additional option of issuing government insurance for troubled financial instruments as a way of reducing the amount of taxpayer money spent up front on the rescue effort. The Treasury would be required to create the insurance program, officials said, but not necessarily to use it. Mr. Paulson had expressed little interest in that plan, and initial cost projections suggested it would be enormously expensive. ....
And immediately after the news conference, staff members began efforts to finalize the language. Even then, their work is hardly over. Congressional leaders who want the bailout to pass with solid bipartisan support had already begun to anxiously court votes, mindful of the difficulty they could face in a high-stakes election year. Public opinion polls show the bailout plan to be deeply unpopular. Conservative Republicans have denounced the plan as an affront to free market capitalism, while some liberal Democrats criticize it as a giveaway to Wall Street. Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the chief negotiator for House Republicans, ... expressed some satisfaction but did not commit his members¡ support.... Aides described a tense meeting on Saturday afternoon that included Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, shouting at Mr. Paulson about executive pay caps. ... At one point, when too much information was leaking out, staff members¡ BlackBerrys were confiscated and collected in a trash bin....
The money will disbursed in parts, with an initial $250 billion to get the rescue effort under way, followed by another $100 billion upon a report by Mr. Bush to Congress. The president could then request the balance of $350 billion at any time. If Congress disapproved, it would have to act within 15 days to deny the Treasury the money. ... Some lawmakers have made clear that they will not vote for the bailout plan under virtually any terms. 'I didn¡t want to be in the negotiations because I object to the basic principles of this,' said Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, who would normally be his party's point man. Pressed about his role, Mr. Shelby replied, 'My position is 'No'.' ...
In a brief speech on the Senate floor, Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, said: 'It's not just going to be Wall Street. The chairman of the Federal Reserve has told us if the credit lockup continues, three million to four million Americans will lose their jobs in the next six months.' Some Democrats had sought to direct 20 percent of any such profits to help create affordable housing, but Republicans opposed that and demanded that all profits be returned to the Treasury.
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