Increased FDIC protection, which has been added to the Senate bill, sounds like a good start, as it keeps the government as insurer (further helping Main Street) and not owner and operator of financial institutions (or socializing Wall Street).
Pushing for a cap on “golden parachutes” seems like a no-brainer: For the 95 Democratic “nays” and the liberal wing of the party, this would help reinforce that the bill shouldn’t help those who, along with being instrumental in the collapse, are already set for life. Reduce it as far down as $250,000, the delineation below which you are cutting taxes— no one above it has the financial incentive to vote for you anyway. Indeed, those making $100,000+ have significantly favored Republicans over the last several elections, so you don’t stand to lose much here.
For the fiscally-conservative wing of the Republican party, it is about responsibility and, indeed, the core principles of capitalism—thou shalt not get financially rewarded if thou did not run thy company efficiently and profitably (a few puritanical Christians might agree with this too). Indeed, if you can frame this as a cost-cutting measure for the government, you might even get some fiscal and social conservatives on board. If there is anything in there that could be considered an “earmark,” get it out. Indeed, resist the temptation to include vast protections and assistance for those done in by the foreclosure crisis—if there’s anyway you could reduce the sense of this being a bailout, the bill will stand a much higher chance of passing.
That being said, if you can push for some sort of assistance for those who lost their homes— or even agree to make it a priority once the first bill is passed (perhaps in the form of low-interest loans to help them get back on their feet, perhaps from the very banks the US would be “bailing out”), it could help you with a core Democratic base—Latinos, a high percentage of which fell victim to the subprime crisis. Indeed, no Latino lawmakers voted in favor of the bailout bill—if you could get a couple on board, that could have a huge ripple effect throughout the community, and thus provide a boost within the fast-growing ethnic/racial denomination in the United States-- which, you might recall, gravitated toward Hillary, instead of you, in the primaries
You—and your future presidency— are already tied to the success or failure of the bill, so you might as well go the extra mile to try to see it through.
Finally, on the semantic level, it may well be more about the marketing. Along with the “leadership,” “bipartisanship,” and “visionary” labels for yourself, give this thing a snappier name, maybe something including words like “rejuvenation.” And whenever the final scroll is ready for presentation, wrap it up in red and blue ribbon.
