Can Texans now vote for Sweetened Bailout 2?

Here is what appears to be added:

_Authorize $700 billion for the government to purchase troubled assets and buy equity in distressed financial firms.

_Require the Treasury Department to make rules to prevent excessive compensation for executives whose companies benefit from the rescue, and cap deductibility of executives' pay packages at $500,000 for firms that get $300 million or more from the program.

_Establish an oversight board for the program, a special investigator general to monitor it and regular government audits.

_Require that the president establish a plan to recoup the cost from the financial industry if, after five years, there are any losses.

_Phase in the money for buying troubled assets, with $250 billion available immediately, $100 billion to be released if the president certifies it is needed, and the last $350 billion available with another certification, but subject to a congressional vote.

Among the sweeteners added are those that would:

_Provide business tax breaks, including for production of, investment in, and use of renewable fuels.

_Require group health plans that include mental health or addiction treatment to provide coverage for those conditions that is equitable to other medical coverage.

_Increase personal credits against the AMT, shielding more than 20 million taxpayers from the tax.

_Grant tax relief to victims of natural disasters in the Midwest and elsewhere.

_Extend through 2011 a program that funds rural schools and local governments that have low property-tax bases because they lie within or are adjacent to federal lands.

_Extend until end of 2009 the deduction for state and local general sales taxes.

_Extend until end of 2009 individual tax breaks, including deductions for higher education costs and teachers' personal expenses.

_Increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, the limit on federal bank deposit insurance.

The items I highlighted would benefit Texans. This is not a progressive bill I would choose but now I think Democrats in Texas may vote for it, or may not, as circumstances dictate.

Source: AP News