Wasn't the world going to end if the mortgage backed securities weren't bought up?

I opposed the "bailout" to begin with (and so did lots of other economists). Sen. Jim Inhofe raises some important concerns and possibilities here. I am sure that Paulson is doing what he thinks is right, but it is only natural to hear the pain of your friends and want to do something to help them out.

He criticizes Henry Paulson for changing the $700 billion bailout plan.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.

"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.'' . . . .