Jim:     Foreclosures... not housing, not banks... foreclosures... that's what this Paulson plan is about...

You're about to hear the only unvarnished truth you're ever going to hear about this Paulson plan right now, from the administration's biggest critic...

This plan is about stopping foreclosures, which are happening, according to the Senate, at about 10,000 a day in our great country. This is why this Paulson plan is such a must... That's why the stock market tanks whenever it seems stalled or watered down... as it did today, on word that nothing might happen in time to save this economy.

We've got to stop that. This plan's got to pass. If you're going to get a turn in housing, which is what the banks need in order to have more capital, so that this country works... then you need to get the foreclosures down. They are at the heart of everything...

We are shrinking the numbers of new homes built... the new homebuilders are buying... they're building a third of what they did three years ago... We are making mortgage money available through the government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so people who are buying new homes are not canceling and leaving their deposits, because they can't sell their old ones.

But we have yet to be able to halt the worst part of what's happening in America... foreclosures.

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Make no mistake about it, the Paulson plan should drastically curtail foreclosures. And the administration has to make this point over and over, because Congress - as I watched all day - simply doesn't get it. They got all sorts of things wrong. Well, you know what... they loved everything all the way down. Now they object?

Make no mistake about it, with Paulson's plan, we will get far fewer foreclosures because, once the government owns the mortgages, it can cut the interest rates to zero, for heaven's sake... because it wants to keep people in their homes, thereby drying up the unsold home pool that keeps burgeoning.

Do you know, whole neighborhoods that were for sale will now be a buy... and the buyers, cramped in their mother-in-law's apartments, will burst out to buy... while those who are stretched will no longer feel like walking away from their homes... Walking away from their homes... something I said last year...

The objections to the plan are frivolous... but we're going to tick them down anyway... I can't believe I'm defending this, but I'm right...

Here are five lies about the plan... They were told all day, and has been told everyday for three days... Five lies... and why it should not be defeated...

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Let's take the big objections head on...

Bailout Myth #1: It doesn't address the real problem of kicking people out of homes.
That's totally wrong. People are walking away, and getting kicked out of their homes, because their homes keep dropping in value and it makes good economic sense to leave.

What's the cause of that?...

Too many foreclosures.

You get housing to stop depreciating, and foreclosures will stop. We'll be home free.

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Bailout Myth #2: The plan costs too much.
Hey, if the plan works - and I think it will - it will even cost money. We could make money! Because the mortgages we will be buying will be made whole, as housing will stop depreciating. If we stop house price depreciation, these people will want to stay in their house...

In fact, I believe this plan will make us money...

The government's going to take equity stakes where it can to win. I worked at Goldman Sachs... If there's anything Paulson knows how to do... ruthlessly, I have to admit, and not that well-liked... it's make money. Paulson knows how to make money. That's what he did all his life...

Why shouldn't we trust him to make money for us?... He'll make money for us. I'm banking with him.

We should share jointly in the appreciation of both the bank stocks that we buy from, and the mortgages in the optimum plan. I think he'll work that out for us.

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Bailout Myth #3: The executives will make too much money.
Wow, okay... stop trading... You know what? Create an executive compensation board... Cut the pay... Or make the execs waive their salary for 2009, if they participate... They're all rich guys. We all hate them anyway, right?... You know we're going to get "show" trials in the end anyway...

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Bailout Myth #4: Once we discover the prices the government pays, it will force banks to take big writedowns they can't handle.
How many times have we heard that today?... Please! First, the responsible banks, like Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), and US Bancorp (USB)... they've already written down the loans, because that's what you do, you know... You don't hide them under the rug... They're going to be helped, not hurt, and we need their money. We need them to loan... If other banks can't take the hit, we should look the other way for now. Yes, yes... forbearance! We had forbearance in 1990, and it saved the banking system. Those in real trouble shouldn't exist anyway... they should be allowed to go under. The FDIC will seize their deposits, and sell them to outfits... yes... like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley... that need deposits and don't want bad loans. This is actually why I like those two stocks so much... I love those two stocks and the media's so dead wrong about the new changes in their structure... it's why I'm buying them for my charitable trust... The media's dead wrong. The media would have you believe, by the way... just read through... from my buddies at The Wall Street Journal 70-80 times a day... They would have you believe that, if Lehman had joined the Federal Reserve system, and become a commercial bank, instead of being an independent investment house, it would have hurt Lehman... Guess what... being an investment house killed them... The same would have happened to Morgan Stanly and Goldman Sachs... which are valued at half what commercial banks are worth. It could now increase their value when they buy deposits the FDIC has seized from banks, who turn out to be lying about the value of their mortgage portfolios. Mark my words... given the fact that Goldman's got a clean book... it's 89 to 100... given the fact that Goldman Sachs will be a commercial bank... it will be the cheapest commercial bank on a price-to-book (value)... Goldman will not be independent next year at this time. Citigroup (C) will buy them, okay... that's how cheap it is.

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Bailout Myth #5: We don't need to be in a rush.
Alright, how about those guys?... We've got to deliberate... Oh yeah, let's put that fire department on hold while Rome burns... and we've got a real Rome burning here.

Now, this is the biggest joke of all... Last night, Washington Mutual (WM) - the largest thrift by deposits - had its debt downgraded again. We need this legislated to ensure, if it happens, that the government can sell the deposits of a Washington Mutual to a Goldman or Morgan... and put the mortgages into our resolution trust. Otherwise, they simply would overwhelm the FDIC and cause bank runs. When did we have bank runs last? The 1930s... We need this, if only to deal with Washington Mutual.

Here's the bottom line...