U B S(uckered)

The prospect of being locked out of the bailout set off alarm bells among chief executives of overseas banks whose American affiliates also hold distressed mortgage-related assets, like Barclays and UBS. The original text provided access to the $700 billion bailout for any financial institution based in the United States.

As the day wore on, some raised their concerns with the Treasury Department…By Saturday evening, the language had been changed to allow any financial institution “having significant operations” in the United States.

Phil Gramm, of course, is the architect of McCain’s response to the housing mortgage crisis (laughable as it was) this Spring, he may still be his Treasury Secretary nominee. He is also vice chairman of UBS’s US division and a lobbyist for UBS. So, as Josh Marshall asks, what did Phil Gramm do over the weekend?

Oh, well at least McCain didn’t meet any of those Fanny Mae folks at a greeting line — he just let them run his campaign.

Meanwhile, just yesterday:

Q: In 1999, you were one of the senators who helped pass deregulation of Wall Street. Do you regret that now?

McCAIN: No. I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy.

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2. Why is Timothy Geithner Rejecting Legislative Policy?
3. Larry Summers Explains His Approach to Financial Regulation
4. Pecora in Perspective: Examining the Current Commission, Still Without a Commissioner
5. FDL Movie Night: American Casino