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The Congressional Budget Office has reported that the Cost of Loan Bailout, if Needed, Could Be $25 Billion according to the New York Times.

Wouldn't that be great, if it really only costs that much to fix Fannie and Freddie? But I think the cost will be well over $100 billion, for which the CBO acknowledges there is a 5% chance.

In the immortal words of Chief Wiggum, I like those odds.

What is the point of speculating about this cost (and really, we all know that this is pure guesswork)? The $25 billion will be entered as a budget expense, and so Congress will have to cut other spending or raise taxes by that much to comply with the paygo rules.

November election coming up? Best possible time to raise taxes.