Democrats Set Bailout Conditions as Treasury Chief Rallies Support  —  WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats began to set their own terms on Sunday for a plan to rescue the nation's financial institutions, including greater legislative oversight of the Treasury Department …

Palin draws crowd of 60,000 in The Villages  —  THE VILLAGES — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told wildly cheering, flag-waving, chanting supporters that John McCain is “the only great man in this race” and promised Sunday he will fix the nation's economy if voters give the GOP four more years in the White House.

Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them  —  Extensive research was conducted by the Jawa Report to determine the source of smears directed toward Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.  Those smears included false allegations …

Cash for Trash  —  Some skeptics are calling Henry Paulson's $700 billion rescue plan for the U.S. financial system “cash for trash.”  Others are calling the proposed legislation the Authorization for Use of Financial Force, after the Authorization for Use of Military Force …

Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million  —  Senator John McCain's campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

Goldman, Morgan to Become Bank Holding Companies  —  Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two independent investment banks, will become bank holding companies, the Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that will fundamentally alter the landscape of Wall Street.

Shorter Entire Right-Wing Blogosphere … - We agree with Investors' Business Daily, which says that the reason for the current financial crisis is that the Community Reinvestment Act passed by the Democrats forced banks to lend money to a bunch of shiftless darkies who couldn't repay their loans.

Senator Obama's Statement of Principles for the Treasury Proposal  —  Senator Obama recently issued a Statement of Principles for the Treasury Proposal...

Obama staff leaves North Dakota  —  BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Barack Obama, who has deployed more than 50 staffers in North Dakota in an attempt to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1964, is pulling out.  —  An Obama spokeswoman, Amy Brundage …

Mac and I had tropical heat in Rio, says ex  —  BY HAROLD EMERT IN RIO DE JANEIRO AND PATRICK SULLIVAN IN NEW YORK  —  While John McCain attended his 50th Naval Academy reunion Saturday, a Brazilian beauty fondly recalled the affair she had with the young “good kissing” midshipman she met a half a century ago.

The beginning of the end game...  The radical moves in the US have direct implications for European banks and indirect implications for European governments.  This column discusses the likely channels and notes that several European banks are both too big to fail and may be too big to be saved by their national governments alone.