Bailout

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service is expected to ask Congress today for a multibillion-dollar bailout to help it recover from the anthrax attacks and a nearly 10 percent drop in mail volume since the deadly bacteria began threatening the mail. With two postal workers dead, three hospitalized and 16,000 on antibiotics as a precaution, Americans are staying away from mailboxes and post offices, postal officials say. In the nearly two months since anthrax appeared, the postal service has recorded losses of $800 million, meaning that it will far exceed the projected $1.35 billion in red ink it was predicting for the fiscal year that ends Sept.

Growing up in northern Homeland, I saw my first film at the Senator Theatre at 10. I went four times in four days to see Dick Tracy and got sick from eating too much popcorn. During breaks from college and the Peace Corps, I regularly took in screenings at the historic theater and made an effort to be an ambassador for the Senator, as Tom Kiefaber advocated to patrons before each performance. I even took part in the 2007 campaign to save the Senator from the auction block, going door to door in the neighborhood to collect small donations and get the word out to area residents.

WASHINGTON - At times yesterday, the telephone calls into the Capitol Hill office of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings merged into a single, constant ring. And with a House vote possible today on the $700 billion financial rescue package approved by the Senate, the Baltimore Democrat was hearing from both sides. After meeting last night with his fellow House Democrats, he said he was still "wrestling" with his vote. "We're still trying to make sure that there's clarity with regard to helping people who are facing foreclosure," said Cummings, who voted against a bailout earlier this week.

ON Sept. 23, the New York Federal Reserve Bank brokered a $3.6 billion bailout of Long-Term Capital Management, a hedge fund that had leveraged $2.2 billion in capital into bets valued at from $90 billion to $1.25 trillion or more, according to various estimates. The bailout's justification: If the hedge fund went under, markets worldwide could implode, and financial institutions that had extended billions in credit to the fund would fall like dominoes. In other words, Long Term Capital was too big to fail.

To everyone born after Woodstock: In the past week, government has proposed to commit hundreds of billions of dollars to an unprecedented financial bailout, and we're the ones who will pay for it. If you've been disappointed by how tight the feds have been with your money of late, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and the Democratic Congress have just the plan for you. "U.S. Democratic lawmakers said they would act quickly on a $700 billion rescue plan for financial companies," Bloomberg reported, "while demanding that the legislation limit compensation for executives of companies that will benefit."

EVEN THOSE who dislike the appearance of the HarborView tower should prefer the condominiums' success to a failure that might leave an empty hulk overlooking the Inner Harbor. A city bailout that will annually forgive $350,000 to $500,000 in property taxes over five years may be distasteful to people who pay their taxes on time, but it's good medicine. If HarborView uses this reprieve to make itself more appealing to potential downtown dwellers, its future value as a fully taxed property will be enhanced.

By spurning the state's terms for a bailout of Baltimore's financially troubled school system, Mayor Martin O'Malley has embarked on a high-risk political strategy that could lead to great rewards or humiliating failure for himself and Baltimore. After weeks of going to Annapolis with hat in hand, O'Malley and the city rejected Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s $42 million in rescue money Monday because of the "onerous" strings attached. Instead, the city decided to raid its own reserve funds to get the troubled school system through the school year -- a decision that drew mixed reviews in Annapolis.

WASHINGTON - Facing sharp questions from bailout overseers, Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit said Thursday the bank is "fundamentally different" from the tangled behemoth that took more than $45 billion in government aid during the recent financial crisis. "I am pleased to say we are in a far different and much healthier position," Pandit said in testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel. The independent watchdog oversees the $700 billion financial bailout. Pandit said Citi's experience during the crisis showed the need for a clearer process to deal with large, failing financial firms.

- Greece won a major pledge of financial support from the other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund in a deal that aims to halt a government debt crisis undermining confidence in Europe's currency union. The joint eurozone and IMF bailout program comes with strict conditions and makes no money available right now. It could be tapped only if Greece or other financially troubled eurozone members cannot raise funds from financial markets. It would require the unanimous agreement of the 16 eurozone countries to release the loan funds.

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc. became the latest bank to take a cautious view of consumers' credit problems, reporting a $7.77 billion fourth-quarter loss due to failed loans and the costs of repaying $20 billion in government bailout money. Tuesday's earnings report met analysts' expectations. - Associated Press