Barack Obama did not base his campaign on saving a collapsing economy. But that was what he ended up being elected to do: he pulled definitively ahead of his rival when the scale of the crisis became clear. At stake in yesterday's presentation of the US bank rescue plan, therefore, was not only Treasury secretary Tim Geithner's authority but that of the administration as a whole – and with it Mr Obama's ability to push through his ambitious reform agenda.
Mr Geithner has to overcome pre-existing congressional ill-will from his predecessor's inept handling of the original Tarp request. Moreover, the administration's paranoia about being branded as socialist has made it do everything it can to avoid taking control of moribund banks or asking for more rescue money.
Instead, Mr Geithner seems absolutely determined to have markets solve the problem, even if it costs taxpayers dearly. Indeed, the paradox at the heart of this ostensibly clever and undoubtedly complex plan is its dependence on subsidies to private investors.