This is crazy — the Bush administration wants to borrow its way out of the financial mess it did so much to help create? No muss, no fuss — just put it on the balance sheet and pretend it’s not real, sort of like how the administration treats the cost of the Iraq war. No one has to sacrifice, not a single program gets cut. There’s just one little detail missing though — how does all that money get repaid?

Robert Preston, business editor of the BBC, puts the $700 billion Bush is seeking in start-up funds in perspective:

That $700bn is about 35 per cent more than the entire annual budget of the US defence department.

And to facilitate the funding, the statutory ceiling on US public debt is being raised from $10.6 trillion to $11.3 trillion a rise of 6.6 per cent – which puts this ceiling at around a fifth less than the entire annual output of the US economy.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, formerly the hugely-compensated head of the Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs, would have enormous discretion in using this money under the plan, according to the New York Times.

The administration’s proposal, laid out in a three-page plan, would place no restrictions on the administration other than requiring semiannual reports to Congress, granting the Treasury secretary unprecedented power to buy and resell mortgage debt.

Didn’t we learn our lessons about giving Bush broad powers in the Iraq/torture/illegal spying scandals that sprang from the broad powers he was given and claimed after 9/11? Haven’t we seen enough cronyism and corruption in this administration to make sure there are plenty of safeguards in place in how this money gets distributed?

This proposal needs careful review, but it’s more likely that Congress will again abandon its oversight role. From the Times:

Congressional leaders are hoping to recess at the end of the week for the fall elections, after approving the bailout and a budget measure to keep the government running.

This financial mess isn’t going to be easy to deal with. Moving quickly and blindly isn’t going to make things better.