If you were going to ask congress for a lot of money to rescue the financial industry what number would you ask for?

$700 billion? Yeah, me too.

But why?

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”

Forbes

It’s hard to keep track of exactly what is going on but here’s how I understand where we are are at:

The president – or rather, the treasury secretary – asked congress for a lot of money with no strings attached and no oversight. The dems have negotiated that down to a lot of money with a few strings and the illusion of oversight. The dems have the numbers to pass the bill but Pelosi won’t put it to a vote unless there is bipartisan support in the House. But a handful of conservative  republicans in the house are holding out because they think the bailout is irresponsible.

Did I get that right so far?

So, what is McCain’s angle gonna be?

Here’s my prediction.

By tomorrow, the unpleasant bill that has majority support and backing (more or less) from the house and senate and the White House (and McCain and Obama) will suddenly morph into a completely unpalatable bill that is supported by the republican minority but not the dems. The president and John McCain will switch over to support the new CRAZY bill and blame the dems (and Obama) for holding the American people hostage.

Not unlike what happened with the immigration bill.