So Senator Dodd, the Democrat from Connecticut, has responded to Secretary Paulson's ultimatum: Give me $700 billion in small unmarked bills, don't ask any questions, and I will see what I can do to keep these Wall Street Guys from ruining your life.

The response is a thing of wonkish beauty. Dodd and his staff have come up with an enforceable law that provides for congressional oversight of the Wall Street bailout, provides for consolidation and simplification of the excessively complex mortgage backed securities and renegotiation of the mortgages behind these securities to limit foreclosures and get the greatest possible value from the notes.

But that is not the best part. The Dodd proposal also requires that companies that sell the government their dubious debt also give the government assurances that, if the debt goes bad, the government will have company shares equal in value to the government's losses. We will take this stuff off your hands but if we lose money on it then we own you.

Nobody gets a free ride on this one. Clearly it is not an invitation to Wall Street to dump your bad investments for free. At the same time it will give responsible but foolish borrowers an opportunity to keep their houses and work out a repayment plan. Almost always this is the better alternative to foreclosure.

Through most of his adult life Wonks Anonymous has grown accustomed to watching the Democrats dither, compromise and obfuscate. Here we have a clear, pertinent proposal delivered in record time. Write your representative.