Four Options for a New Bailout Bill

ABC is reporting there are four possible options being floated for a new bailout bill:

Congressional sources tell ABC News that what they're talking about right now are three or four basic baskets of options:

# 1 -- Muscle Bailout Bill Through House: Some leaders suggest those House Republicans on the fence will be swayed by seeing what the markets do tomorrow, which could be more bad news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 700 points today as the administration's bailout bill failed in Congress This option would see House leaders try again to muscle through the votes they need to get the $700 billion bailout bill passed.

#2 -- Pass Bailout in Senate First: Some Senate and House leaders have been talking about letting the Senate go first and pass the bailout package, ABC News has learned. There appears to be broader support in the Senate for the bailout package. This option would see the Senate vote first which would increase the pressure on the House to pass the Bush administration's bailout bill.

#3 -- Make Small Tweaks to the Bill: Congressional leaders wonder if perhaps there are a couple of small tweaks they can make to the package that would bring along the 12 votes they lost the vote by. Option A, sources say, could be adding a line that some economists have said is absolutely necessary for the FDIC to guarantee all deposits in transaction accounts, not just up to $100,000. That would deal with the credit crunch and it would be quite popular, some on Capitol Hill argue. Option B would be eliminating the mark-to-market rule that many Republicans and conservatives complain about, which ensures financial decision-makers must show their losses in real time.

#4 -- Get More Democrats On Board: Finally, one other unlikely option talked about on Capitol Hill is to try to pass the bill almost entirely with the Democratic majority in the House. That would require adding a major stimulus package favored by Democrats, infrastructure spending, unemployment insurance spending, and heating and food stamp assistance for low-income Americans.

All of that is being discussed right now. We're not likely to hear members have landed on any single proposal until at least tomorrow.

Option #4 probably wouldn't even get the votes of any of the GOP leadership. It would be a strictly Dem-only bill and wouldn't have a chance in the Senate.

Whatever they decide to do the GOP should insist on one more requirement: Nancy Pelosi must sit down, shut-up, and not take any part in the debate. The GOP should inform the Dem leadership that if Pelosi even walks by the microphone at any point they'll lose the entire GOP caucus. Pelosi needs to be taught a lesson.