Is there room for hope that the Democrats will finally stand up to the Republican bullying tactics and do the right thing? After reading this article in the Times I think there might be, although I have almost zero faith they will follow through.

Some highlights:

Congressional Democrats began to set their own terms on Sunday for a plan to rescue the nation’s financial institutions, including greater legislative oversight of the Treasury Department, more direct assistance for homeowners and limits on the pay of top executives whose firms seek help.

A decent start. But we need more. Maybe cooler heads are prevailing here?

Still, competing interests were already complicating the negotiations, as Democrats pushed for assistance for distressed homeowners and for oversight authority of the bailout program. Some lawmakers also said they did not want to be rushed into approving extraordinary new powers for the Treasury secretary and the government without full consideration of the consequences.

So what does Nancy Pelosi have to say?

“Congress will respond to the financial markets crisis by taking action this week in a bipartisan manner that will protect the taxpayers’ interests,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She added that the administration’s proposal did “not include the necessary safeguards. Democrats believe a responsible solution should include independent oversight, protections for homeowners and constraints on excessive executive compensation.”

“We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome,” she said.

Well, we can hope you won't do what Dick Gephardt did in the run up to the AUMF and get railroaded. But what of the Republicans?

Congressional Republicans, too, put the Bush administration on notice that they would not rubber-stamp the bailout proposal but would insist on a number of changes, including specific protections for taxpayers. Those would include a requirement that any profits from the program be returned to the Treasury.

So, there might be room for a coalition to form around some real accountability. But again, I am not hopeful. At this point, our best hope is that the markets rally long enough to give Congress some critical breathing room, which I take to be the point of Stirling's post here. They need more time to look at this fully. And we also need time for it to register with the public and understand what it is the Bush Administration is really proposing here: nothing less than tossing away our republic into a waste-dump of toxic securities.

One can hope. . . but I'd prefer some hardball politics on the part of the Democrats.