Strange but true events in the credit crisis

I guess it will be harder for the Treasury secretary to lecture other countries on currency matters after this display of negotiating tactics.

From the could-not-make-it-up department (well, the New York Times actually):

In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange.

Attempts to build confidence with US investors may be failing.

And from George Bush: "If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down."