It's a start, but not much of one

Congressional Democrats are presenting some demands of their own with regard to bailout legislation.   

Congressional Democrats considering the Bush administration's emergency plan to shore up the U.S. financial system countered with their own demands yesterday, presenting draft legislation giving the government power to cut salaries of chief executives at firms that participate in the bailout and slash severance packages for their top management.

But we've seen this many, many times before--they talk big, they strut, they pound their chests--yet they always cave.  Between fear and greed, they ALWAYS give the Bush administration (and in this case, if the election goes bad, the Bush administration's next figurehead, the perpetually confused John McCain) exactly what they want.

And the Dems are not even challenging the unfettered and unreviewable access of the Bush administration (a group not known for handling money or power well) to $700 billion.

Democratic leaders have broadly embraced the administration's proposal to spend up to $700 billion to take troubled assets off the books of faltering firms and are not questioning the need to give the Treasury Department expansive authority to halt the meltdown in world markets. But by attempting to limit executive pay, they risk alienating key Republicans who object to such restrictions and delaying passage of the rescue plan, which in turn may stir renewed fear in the markets.

The Congressional Democrats are a craven bunch.