DAY’S END ROUNDUP

The Wall Street bill approved by the House today, which will grant the Treasury Department authority to purchase toxic assets from failing financial companies, is panned by bloggers, while conservatives laud the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRCS) for a new web ad that seeks to tie Democrats to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Taxpayers are going to end up saddling the burden of the mortgage crisis when the government buys up billions in bad assets as a result of today’s bill, Ian Welsh asserts at Firedoglake. The government won’t be able to protect the value of mortgages once it owns them, Welsh says, quipping that the mortgages aren’t called “toxic” for nothing. The bill will put the federal government further into debt, writes Michelle Malkin, who says she isn’t buying into hopes that the bill will pay for itself.

The NRSC is going for the gut in a new ad that accuses Democrats of enabling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a “reckless social agenda” that led to bad mortgages, The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack declares. Hot Air’s Allahpundit says the ad is one of the best he’s seen all year and praises it for holding Democrats accountable for the financial crisis.

And whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) did or did not read prepared answers last night in her debate against Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) has become a point of contention in the blogosphere. The debate was an open-book exam for Palin, contends Think Progress’s Faiz Shakir, who posts a video compilation of responses he says Palin read from a script. But under debate rules Palin wasn’t allowed to bring any pre-prepared material with her to the podium, Marc Ambinder writes, claiming it would have been impossible for her to have a prepared script with her.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Awesome: GOP Ad Lowers the Boom – Allahpundit, Hot Air
Big, Big Audience Last Night – Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
Why It Passed – Rich Lowry, The Corner
There’s Something Wrong with These People – kos, Daily Kos
Bailout Lets IRS Go Undercover – TChris, TalkLeft
Horrendous Bipartisan Legislation – Moe Lane, RedState
She Read the Cliffs Notes? – David Kurtz, TalkingPointsMemo
McCain’s Latin American Experience – J. Aravosis, AMERICAblog
Palin Didn’t Read Pre-Prepared Answers – Marc Ambinder
Watch Palin Read Her Answers – Faiz Shakir, Think Progress

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
House Reverses Course, Approves Bailout – The Hill
Stocks Sink Even After House Approves Bailout – USA Today
VP Debate Draws More Viewers Than Presidential Debate – Washington Post