Treasury Plan is Old Dog Attempting New Tricks, Duke Economist Says

The U.S. Treasury’s financial rescue plan presented today (Monday) does not differ significantly from a previous one announced in September by the Bush administration and shouldn’t be expected to perform much differently, says a Duke University economist.

“This is the same dog that didn’t hunt a few months ago, the last time it was proposed,” said Connel Fullenkamp, a Duke associate professor of the practice in economics.

“It's going to be a cherry-picking exercise for investors with ready cash,” Fullenkamp said. “This won’t really ease the crunch that much, but a lucky few will be able to buy the least-troubled assets at good prices and make a lot of money from them.”

The new plan aims to get private investors to partner with a new federal entity to buy up troubled assets from banks.

“What I'd really like to know from Treasury Secretary Geithner is what has changed in the financial markets that will make firms that were previously unwilling to make a market for these assets suddenly make a market now,” he said.

Statement of Paul Helmke on Federal Government's Filing in Guns in Parks Litigation

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement:

"Late Friday night, the United States Department of Justice filed a response to lawsuits filed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence as well as the National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. The suits seek to enjoin and strike down a last-minute rule change by the Bush Administration's Interior Department which overturned sensible restrictions on concealed firearms in our national parks established by the Reagan Administration a quarter century ago. Allowing concealed guns into our historically safe parks was a potentially dangerous and ill-conceived idea. In our suit, we argue that the Bush Administration clearly violated laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, in promulgating the rule.

"Recently released documents from this case reveal that even senior officials in the Bush Administration recognized that the new rule was unnecessary, potentially dangerous, and promulgated in a way that federal environmental laws did not allow. We are disappointed that the new Administration's initial response has been to defend this rule in court, instead of recognizing that the Bush Administration acted illegally. We are confident that the new rule will be struck down in court."

President Bush Forgot to Acknowledge His Greatest Achievement

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, Chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/ paid tribute to President George W. Bush today for the development and deployment of our nation's missile defense system. His commentary is as follows:

"As President George W. Bush concludes his 8 years as the Commander in Chief of our nation it is with due respect that one of his most positive achievements and a lasting legacy are the achievements that have taken place over his Presidency with missile defense. The United States withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty and the decision to deploy a missile defense system at the beginning of his first term, to having a limited missile defense capability deployed during the ballistic missile launches by North Korea, to expanding missile defense in cooperative agreements with 18 countries, highlighted by the signings of the Czech Republic and Poland to host a European Missile Defense site at the end of his term."

"The missile defense systems developed and deployed during his Presidency are of land and sea based interceptors and sensors that have had 27 successful test intercepts and a real missile defense intercept of a falling toxic satellite last February."

"Most significantly during President Bush's years, the U.S. has deployed missile defense systems that have helped bring stability and security in the Far East Asia Region as North Korea moved forward with attaining nuclear weapons."

"Today, due to President Bush, our nation, our troops and our allies are safer from ballistic missile threats."

Ellison concluded his tribute by saying: "Thank You Mr. President."