Essentially the Only One

The document proposing the largest financial bailout in U.S. history is refreshing concise. You can read it here.

It gives the Secretary of The Treasury enormous power:

(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

but the taxpayer is considered:

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for--

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.

Note that the taxpayer is #2 on that list

And an awful lot of zeros are postulated:

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary's authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time

As we well know, any amount set in a government document is usually only a starting point, and I am sure this will balloon as well.

Oh well. A pretty mess we are in.