Tenative Bailout Plan Reached -- What Changed?

Instapundit links to an editorial in the DC Examiner that details the ways in which the various bailout plans differed. While obviously biased--it is an editorial--it has a lot of interesting information. There are two major observations about the differences that I think are noteworthy.

One, the allotment of 20% of any profits to the sketchy, voter-fraud enabling organization ACORN has been removed. This of course is an excellent change. It should be clear to anyone analysis the facts with a eye towards fairness and ethics (and legality) that ACORN deserves indictments, not funding.

Two, arbitrary limits on executive pay have been removed. The restrictions added in the Democratic-modified version were ridiculously far-reaching.

Far reaching executive compensation standards that would affect companies not even involved in this financial crisis. Additionally, the bill lowered the deduction on executive pay to $400,000 for ALL companies.

How typical for members of Congress to use a crisis to add bloat to bill that has nothing to do with the matter under consideration. While golden parachutes can be outrageous, changes to them should come from demands from investors--not heavy-handed dictates from the federal government. The new stipulation seem much more focused and reasonable:

Workable prohibitions on executive compensation to ensure bad actors are not rewarded. In a total takeover (like what happened with AIG), there will be no golden parachutes or severance pay. For equity participation, over $300M total ban for top 5 executives on golden parachutes and tax deduction limit on compensation above $500,000.

Analysis of the new plan from John at Powerline. John concludes:

If voters understood the events of the last week, they would probably return control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, to the Republicans. The mainstream media will make sure that doesn't happen.

Additional thoughts from Ed Morrissey.