Do you get the feeling Paulson is making this up as he goes?

November 12, 8:11 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced some fairly major modifications to the $700B financial rescue program approved by Congress last month.  From the NY Times:

Mr. Paulson said the $700 billion would not be used to buy up troubled mortgage-related securities, as the rescue effort was originally conceived, but would instead be used in a broader campaign to bolster the financial markets and, in turn, make loans more accessible for creditworthy borrowers seeking car loans, student loans and other kinds of borrowing.

Weeks ago, in lobbying Congress to enact the TARP legislation, the administration described the program as one to buy up the opaque and toxic mortgage-related assets that are at the heart of the housing crisis that set off the country’s worst financial ordeal since the Great Depression.

“Over these past weeks, we have continued to examine the relative benefits of purchasing illiquid mortgage-related assets,” Mr. Paulson said. Explaining the shift in emphasis, he said, “Our assessment at this time is that this is not the most effective way to use TARP funds,” while stressing that he and others working on the bailout have not ruled out “targeted forms of asset purchase.”

OK, so Mr. Paulson backed away from the orignal plan to buy up mortgages.  Now he seems to be saying buying equity stakes in troubled banks isn't working.  And today he seems to be saying all that isn't going to work and proposing consumer credit relief is the answer.

Gee, I wonder how the market responded today to all this flip flopping from the Treasury Secretary:

SYMBOL           LAST             CHANGE
Dow                8,282.66        411.30 (4.73%)
Nasdaq           1,499.21          81.69 (5.17%)
S&P 500            852.30          46.65 (5.19%)