Paulson: I'm Sorry

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said he regrets the litany of failures that led to the current economic crisis.

"We're not proud of all the mistakes that were made by many different people, different parties, failures of our regulatory system, failures of market discipline that got us here," Paulson said in an interview on Fox Business Network today.

But he said he had "no regrets" about the steps the government is taking now to address the problem.

"We will mitigate the impact on the real economy and we'll get this financial system working again," he said.

Meanwhile, Treasury just announced that it has hired the law firm of Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett for six months at a rate of $300,000 to be the legal advisers on the $700 billion Wall Street rescue/bailout.

Here's the contract.

The firm has offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Washington and other cities. Simpson's Lee Meyerson, experienced in dealing with big banks, will lead the firm's efforts with Treasury.

-- Frank Ahrens