Senate Sweeteners to the Bailout

In time-honored tradition, lawmakers are strengthening the financial rescue plan to insure Senate passage tonight by adding such crowd-pleasers as raising FDIC insurance on bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000, adding renewable energy tax incentives and offering relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Of all the incentives to placate angry taxpayers, the most intriguing is a "Mental Health Parity" provision that would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness at the same level as physical illness. Judging from their performance over the past week, this might be seen as more beneficial to the members of Congress than the voters.

With delicacy of feeling, the Senate is not convening to do this work until after sundown, the end of observance of the Jewish New Year.

The last time such sensitivity was shown came in the 1950s when federal officials scheduled the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for spying before sundown on a Friday to avoid killing them on the Jewish Sabbath.

Let's hope the outcome this time will not be as lethal.