I loved Eric Posner's comment on the bailout process:
Here's a recap. Paulson sought to give Treasury the power to buy mortgage-related assets. A power grab!, said the critics. So congressional Democrats sought to give Treasury the power to buy mortgage-related assets, non-mortgage-related assets, and equity interests, and to regulate executive pay. Socialism!, said the congressional Republicans. So the final bill gives Treasury the power to buy mortgage-related assets, non-mortgage-related assets, and equity interests, and to regulate executive pay, and to issue insurance to distressed institutions. Madisonian deliberation at its finest!
As Neal Stephenson notes in his most recent book, "it happened all the time that the compromise between two perfectly rational alternatives was something that made no sense at all."