Fox News is reporting that today's meeting at the White House about the proposed bailout of the financial industry went "very poorly" and "ended bad...very bad" as House Republicans seemed to dominate the meeting with their objections to the deal.

Interestingly, S&P 500 futures are basically still unchanged in the evening electronic trading session. It either means the market still thinks something substantial will get done and soon, or that they're not as worried as they used to be about the repercussions if a much-reduced plan is eventually put in place. [Update: S&P; futures are down $9 15 minutes after I posted this note. Update 2: S&P futures are down $17 at 9:15 PM Mountain Time. That's about what I expected from the news. Strange that it took so long. I guess I should have sold 'em when I wrote the note. Update 3: At 11 PM Mountain Time, S&P futures are down about 21, or almost 2%. Update 4: Half an hour before the market open on Friday, futures are down 24.]

In something barely better than a classic Bush-ism, the president is reported to have said that if a deal isn't made, "this sucker could go down", referring apparently to the economy.

I understand the president wanting to make a deal sound urgent and important, but it's a very dangerous thing to say given the likelihood that a deal will be slow in coming. The last thing we need is the president talking the stock market down 1,000 points.

The electoral politics here are very interesting, with McCain inserting himself into the debate, in body if not in substantial participation. (McCain reportedly said nothing or nearly nothing in the meeting.) McCain needs to appear to craft a deal with House Republicans. Given the massive ratio of phone calls to Congress which oppose the deal rather than support it, there will probably not be nearly enough Democrats in the House to pass a bill that even vaguely resembles Paulson's original plan.

Obama is spinning like mad, such as saying "Yesterday I released a joint statement with John McCain, at my suggestion..." Obama is complaining that "it appeared we had made progress...at least there was some rough consensus...things were moving forward. The Senate Republicans appeared also to be interested at least... The Administration...still has some work to do with House Republicans who still seem to have some problems with the core concepts of the plan." Obama is calling for another stimulus package and more bankruptcy reform, saying "the fundamentals of the economy are not strong."

Trying to show McCain's move to suspend his campaign to work on the issue, Obama said "when you inject presidential politics into delicate negotiations, it's not necessarily as helpful as it needs to be." He added that "The most important thing John McCain and I can do tomorrow...is to go to Mississippi..and explain our vision of where the economy needs to go."

It's great to see the House Republicans, even in their substantial minority position, force the debate toward both taxpayer protection and limiting government involvement in our financial system, minimizing "protection" for people close to foreclosure as the Democrats are trying to lard up the bill with, etc.

When I heard the meeting "ended bad", it brought a smile to my face.