One problem - that deal broke down almost immediately. And some high-ranking people within the Republican caucus were none too pleased with Bennett's pronouncement.
Soon after that, the Senate Republicans named New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg as their lead negotiator. It was Gregg, not Bennett, who stood with Senate leaders after the successful bailout vote to congratulate each other.
But when it came time for Gregg to take the microphone, he threw Bennett a bone saying he had played "an immense role" in negotiating the bailout details.
Domeni-what?:
Bennett gave a warm send-off to retiring New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici this week, saying he will miss him for "one highly personal" reason. Domenici is one of the last remaining senators who worked with Bennett's father, Sen. Wallace Bennett, who left public office in 1975.
"He is reducing by 25 percent the number of senators now serving who served with my father," Bennett said.
Umm . . . Not quite. In the same speech, Bennett said Domenici was one of six remaining senators who were contemporaries of his dad. So while his math was a little off, his heart was in the right place.
Bennett also tried to correct a family wrong, saying Domenici "has told me that my father was never quite able to pronounce his name correctly, for which I apologize. I have learned how to do it so that the Bennett family is relieved of that particular problem."
Philo T. Farnsworth is on the move:
The Capitol is packed with statues representing prominent people from each state. But two dozen - including one of Utah inventor Philo T. Farnsworth - will soon take up a new residence in the swank visitor center that is scheduled to open in early December.
Farnsworth, known as the father of television, is depicted as a tall and thin man with his sleeves rolled up holding a TV tube. His statue was added to the Statuary Hall collection in 1990.
Utah's other statue is of Brigham Young, the state's first territorial governor and the Mormon president who led the pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. He plans to stay put, where he has been since 1950.
A bailout or a payback?:
Big Wall Street executives are often campaign contributors who regularly hand over the maximum donation allowed under federal law - $2,300 - to their favorite candidates.
But many of these firms are now in trouble, crushed under bad loans and mortgage-related securities they can't sell. The same politicians who often accept those campaign contributions are now preparing to send a little government cash back to the distressed banks and other financial firms.
The plan would involve $700 billion in taxpayer money. And in a nation with about 300 million people, that bailout comes to $2,300 per person.
A coincidence?
Yeah, probably.
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* BURR AND CANHAM report for The Salt Lake Tribune from Washington, D.C. They can be reached at tburr@sltrib.com or mcanham@sltrib.com.
For more political tidbits, check out http://blogs.sltrib.com/utahpolitics.
