From the joint-statement:
Second, we need to protect taxpayers. There should be a path for taxpayers to recover their money, and to turn a profit if Wall Street prospers.
Frankly, the chances for this are slim and the notion is fanciful, IMHO.
If you want to get at the root cause of the problem, foreclosures and house price declines and keeping people in their homes (and with jobs?), there is no way to address that without a cost.
If it is the case that distressed securities can or should be bought only at a price that discounts the worst of the worst case scenarios, in order to guarantee a profit for the Treasury, how is that not a "fire-sale price" that the Fed has said they would like to avoid?
If there exists a price, a cut-rate price, which makes it possible to satisfy all goals, i.e. one that is sufficient - not just necessary, but sufficient - to put all aspects of the banking mess / credit cycle completely behind us, satisfy taxpayers with upside, and boost credit availability immediately, that'd be news.
Last, the notion of sacrifice is totally absent. The GOP's notions of debt-spend, rather than face the music, are ingrained now in every legislative agenda. We have no collective sacrifice any longer for a common goal. Not even war ...
