The senate will be voting today on a "sweeter" bailout bill. We were watching CNN this morning while they talked about it, and Kelly and I about flipped out lids. Here's one of the ways the deal is sweeter (from CNN):

The revised bailout bill also includes a "Mental Health Parity" provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness at parity with physical illness.

What the fuck? How on earth does this have ANYTHING to do with our economic crisis? Why on earth is this included in this bill? After a cursory search, I found that the senate has been working this issue for several months, so I guess they think they can just lump it in with the bailout to either A) sell the bailout bill; or B) sell the mental health parity bill.

I still don't think I want the bailout to pass, but with that said, congress needs to follow the good old KISS principle here: Keep It Simple Stupid! Focus on the bailout, and the bailout only. Deal with mental health parity another time.

Also, the "sweeter" bill includes a bump on the FDIC insurance cap from $100K to $250K. While this sounds really nice, I am sure that doesn't come for free. What's the cost? Will interest rates jump dramatically so that the cost of the better insurance can be covered? Will my variable-rate home equity line of credit triple its interest rate? And besides, how does this actually help? It might make things easier for small businesses so that they can deal with fewer banks for their payroll, etc., but it doesn't actually protect anyone's money. And most people don't have to worry about having more than $100K in a bank! Give me a break.