Pete started this. Let me add a few quick thoughts.

I'm a big CNBC fan, but the way they covered the Treasury secretary's formal announcement yesterday of a financial services reform plan after a weekend of informal releases was close to yellow journalism. Not only was there little new to report by the time Secretary Paulson stepped up the microphone, by then it was also clear that this was not going to be adopted this year, or perhaps ever.

First, you had a major proposal by a lame duck administration with very low approval ratings facing a hostile House and Senate controlled by a different political party.

Second, you had a very contententious plan that even its supporters agree won't do much to deal with the current situation before Election Day.

Third, it is a complicated and complex plan that few outside a handful of investment professionals understand. The typical voter, and for that matter the typical member of Congress, don't know whether or why it's good for them. They are much more focused on higher gasoline prices, foreclosures, and a recession.

Fourth, the regulatory establishment that would be changed by the plan reacted so negatively so quickly that it was immediately clear that there was no consensus of any kind. The White House also made this worse by aparrently not arranging for regulators it should have been able to control either to support it or keep quiet.

This proposal simply didn't deserve the extensive, almost OJ-like coverage it received. You could almost imagine it being delivered in a white Bronco and it being followed to the Treasury live by helicopters.

Wait, There's More: Over at the FT, Clive Crook calls the plan "surprisingly thin."