Jim Harper at the Cato Institute: “Passage of the ‘Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008′ would cause $700 billion to be spent - gone - just like earlier proposals. There is no effective limit on spending in this bill.”

Cost of bailout to you as an individual: $2000.

Matt Welch at Reason Magazine: “The fabulously named economists Luc Laevan and Fabian Valencia have a working paper on banking crises [pdf] out for the International Monetary Fund, covering 42 meltdowns in 37 countries since 1970. Their conclusion? Beware bailouts.”

The bailout doesn’t just allow for the purchase of stinky assets from banks, but also from local governments and foreign banks and authorities.

Jeff Jacoby in 1995: “What does it mean when Boston banks start making many more loans to minorities? Most likely, that they are knowingly approving risky loans in order to get the feds and the activists off their backs . . . When the coming wave of foreclosures rolls through the inner city, which of today’s self-congratulating bankers, politicians, and regulators plans to take the credit?”

Barry Ritholtz, author of the new book “Bailout Nation”: “I guess that Hank Paulson, George Bush and Ben Bernanke — all of whom have been been unequivocally, expensively, tyrannically wrong about the entire crisis from the beginning — are smarter than both the markets, and all of the private equity pools, about this paper? Does that sound right to you? The guys who missed this from day one — despite many many admonitions from many people — only they see the value in this paper, whereas the smart guys who saw the shitstorm coming in advance, and bet against it, don’t?”

Bailout bill on PublicMarkup.org. It’s a good site worth a look if you follow federal legislation.