Bailout bitter pill to swallow, but. . . .

The $700 billion bailout bill Congress is debating is the legislative equivalent of an inoculation.

It hurts, but it’s necessary.

Congress should pass the bill because the consequences, should lawmakers dawdle, could be disastrous.

That said, the public must demand that Congress tailor this bailout so that, to the fullest extent possible, the people being bailed out are those who didn’t contribute to the financial morass in which America’s economy, and much of the rest of the world’s, has gotten mired.

The reality, of course, is that many people who are partly responsible will benefit from Congress’ intervention.

People who signed mortgages they couldn’t afford — a fact which anyone with the math skills of a second-grader could have calculated.

The leaders of the companies that approved those loans, as though the principles of interest and principal had been temporarily suspended.

We understand that it’s tempting to want to punish the people whose greed and irresponsibility have pushed our country to this perilous position.

But it would count as a dereliction of Congress’ duty were lawmakers to succumb to the desire for revenge when ignoring the crisis, as most economists predict, would likely worsen the situation and possibly harm millions of Americans who have never missed a payment.

To reiterate, Congress’ task is an unpleasant one to be sure.

But if the choice comes down to — and it seems to us that it does — rescuing some people who probably deserve to go under so as to keep a lot of other people afloat, then lawmakers have a duty to toss the life preserver.

But not necessarily today, or even next week.

Statements by President Bush and other government leaders regarding the bailout deal seemed to calm the markets. It’s likely that the mere prospect of a bailout bill will prop up Wall Street for a short while.

And that gives lawmakers ample time to include in the bill such necessary items as limits on salaries for executives whose firms would be spared by taxpayers’ dollars, and help for homeowners who face foreclosure.

And speaking now as taxpayers ourselves, we’d appreciate it if Congress tossed in a clause requiring repayment from the companies we will help save.

We’ll give them a great interest rate, too.