Bailout plan is vast patronage under cover of martial law

``First, distressed securities would be purchased by the Treasury Department through a "reverse auction" system, in which sellers would set the minimum price they'd be willing to accept from the government. This would seem to create the most lucrative patronage imaginable, for there's no telling how the government's purchasing agents might decide what to buy and at what price. Indeed, since there is no market for these securities and the government itself will be making the market, purchases will be entirely a matter of government favor.''