It gets tiring writing every day about all the bad news, though that is sadly the reality (and, certainly will be so at least until spring training starts). But, here is one piece of good news. In the body of a story about the nomination by the president of the person responsible for monitoring how the $700 billion bankers’ bailout is spent, we learn this:

And the law further required the Congressional leadership to create a five-member board, called the Congressional Oversight Panel, to provide legislative review for the bailout and recommend regulatory reforms.

Three of those members were announced Friday within hours of Mr. Barofsky’s nomination.

The Democratic leadership’s three appointments are Richard H. Neiman, a former bank executive who is now the New York State superintendent of banks; Elizabeth Warren, a law professor at Harvard who specializes in consumer bankruptcy and commercial law; and Damon A. Silvers, an associate general counsel of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and a member of several federal regulatory advisory committees.

   I added the emphasis. I’ve worked with Damon in the past and had him up to New York last year to speak on a panel about pensions. He is an incredibly insightful person and we can feel confident that he is going to be on-the-case here for us. BTW, Elizabeth Warren is a good pick, too–she was one of the most active vocal opponents of the dreaded bankruptcy bill that passed and screwed average people while protecting credit card companies. The Democrats did a good job–I can’t believe I’m saying that–in picking these two people.