The buzz on Capitol Hill is that Congress could pass an updated version of the bailout bill before the end of the week. But Shah Gilani in Money Morning says taxpayers are being “force-fed a political solution, instead of a sound economic market-based solution to a financial crisis.” He says the the bailout bill has eight key failings.

On September 19 the SEC suspended short selling for 799 financial companies. Eric Roseman says the legislation targets the wrong traders. He says short sellers make the market more transparent. By blocking them, the SEC is violating the free market.

What most people just don’t get, says Chuck Butler is that the bailout “constitutes the single greatest case of ignoring the free market in modern history.” And there is actually little justification for it.

The US economy shrank in the third quarter, says Bloomberg, and “a further contraction is likely in the next two quarters…which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82.”

Taipan Publishing editor Justice Litle says Buffett’s backing is particularly significant. It shows there are still a lot of very powerful people, not to mention sovereign wealth funds and foreign governments, willing to back Uncle Sam.

On September 19 the SEC suspended short selling for 799 financial companies. Eric Roseman says the legislation targets the wrong traders. He says short sellers make the market more transparent. By blocking them, the SEC is violating the free market.

No, you didn’t read that headline wrong. According to Forbes.com, the $700 billion price tag on Hank Paulson’s bailout plan for the US financial markets wasn’t based on “any specific data point.” It just seemed like a nice big number.

Hank Paulson, current Treasury Secretary and former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, would like to have an unlimited amount of money with no oversight so he can do what he pleases with it. Wouldn't we all?

Unfortunately for him, everyone knows that he is a grifter who would like to give the money to his buddies and stick the taxpayer with huge losses.

I am officially declaring Ben S. Bernanke as a known terrorist threat based on his statements made to the State Senate Banking Committee earlier today. Specifically, he said:

Just how much of your money has the government flung at Wall Street? $1,164 billion so far: $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $150 billion in “stimulus”checks; $85 billion for AIG; $29 billion for Bear Stearns.

Justice Litle says the plan is a minefield for investors. He says there are five things you need to know about the government bailout and what it means for your portfolio.

The Unholy trinity - the Federal Reserve, SEC and Treasury - has pulled out all the stops this time. But while US stocks soar, Justice Litle says the government’s bailouts are a death blow for the dollar.

Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson are planning the biggest bailout of financial markets in history. It could cost the taxpayer somewhere in the region of $1 trillion. But the market will triumph over the interventionists, says Bill Bonner.

Investors cheered the measures as the Dow Jones soared 400 points on Friday, after having surged 410 points on Thursday. This included meteoric rises for battered finance firms like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Washington Mutual.

Should we invest heavily again now that a rally is forming?

“All this debt […] has to be paid back,” says currency expert Chris Gaffney. “And how does the government plan to do this? With cheaper dollars…”