Cheney Hits Hill to Rally GOP Support for Bailout

Dick Cheney met with House Republicans today to try to shore up support for the administration’s financial bailout plan, Fox News reports. The plan faces considerable opposition from conservatives who are wary of what they see as a “socialist” solution and its huge price tag. "Cheney is going to walk into a firing squad," an aide to one tells Fox. "I hope he brought his hunting rifle."

Members of the Republican Study Committee shared their criticisms of the plan and proposed some changes today. They criticize the plan’s boosting of the national debt and think it inadequately penalizes shareholders and executives who gambled foolishly. They recommend a fee for firms unloading bad assets on the Treasury, and a budget item in yearly appropriations bills itemizing the plan’s annual cost. (More Dick Cheney stories.)