HAT THE HELL DID THEY FIND SO FUNNY?

Here they were, Congressional Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sharing a laugh while announcing to the media that they reached an accord on the repulsive $700 billion bailout of Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe at the expense of ordinary Americans.

But the self-congratulations were premature and the pictures taken Monday showed grimmer expressions on the dealmakers’ faces.

While partisans threw pot-shots at each other – the Dems blamed the Republicans for the failure of the bailout plan and vice versa -- the reality is both political parties’ got us into this quicksand. And Congressional leaders who face November elections weren’t willing to absorb the voters’ anticipated zings and arrows.

When the votes were tallied, there were 228 nays versus 205 yeas against the biggest market intervention since the Great Depression. Of Dems, 95 opposed the bill while 140 voted in favor; 133 Republicans nixed the plan while 65 supported it.

Meanwhile, back at the race, the Obama and McCain camps pointed fingers at each other.

During a presidential campaign with lots of talk about chickens coming home to roost, this story was a foulest. We are all complicit in this mess; the media for spoonfeeding us stories about Jesus’ face in cat fur stories while ignoring real crises. Or for dismissing what they surely thought shrill complaints from Ralph Nader about lax governmental regulation and corporate welfare for the likes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Today’s reporters seems to do little more than yap like little dogs at bigger dogs; but as usual their bark is bigger than their bite. The sleaze-fest that Congress has become can be directly traced back to the money from wealthy individuals and corporations who want to a piece of America’s pie when legislation is written, and candidates’ open palms.

Count me among the millions who are glad that they issue hasn’t been resolved quite so quickly to Congress’ satisfaction. Yes, yes, I’m aware that something must be done to avert another Depression. Americans rely on ol’ Uncle Sam to play both mommy and daddy.

But there’s lots more work to do to ensure that all of those who contributed to this fiasco are forced to sweat before the final tally is deducted from the next generation’s future.

Here’s where they can begin: Bush, Pelosi, Reid, Paulsen, et.al – stop laughing at our expense.