Better. But:

Still, you need to watch the legislative mechanics here. If progressives start out by saying “yes a bailout is needed” and then adding “but we also need this other stuff” then what’s going to happen is the conservative bloc will say “well, you guys need to radically scale back your good stuff” and then progressives will be cornered. You need to insist on the provisions that could make this plan a good one. What’s more, while this sounds like an improvement over the Bush/Paulson plan it still doesn’t seem to do much of anything to help restructure mortgages a step that’s vitally necessary from both a fairness and an effectiveness perspective

Restructuring mortgages would be The Incredible HOLC part of this comprehensive plan.

Again, we don't want a blank check, but we also don't want the Ds to fill in the check, sign it and date it, and then hand it over. The problem needs to be fixed, and as long as homeowners are fucked on their mortgages, the banks are fucked on their balance sheets. That's why helping homeowners also restores solvency to the banks.

NOTE See here on Dodd's suckitude this morning on NPR.

UPDATE Dodd stiffs the homeowners:

The proposal that Dodd has sent to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would let judges modify the mortgages of homeowners in bankruptcy to allow them to keep their homes.

It also would require that the government come up with "a systematic approach for preventing foreclosure" on the mortgages it acquires as part of the bailout. That would include the home loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giants now under the control of a government regulator.

Have the administration come up with the plan? Is Dodd demented? There is a plan: The Incredible HOLC.