An interesting dispatch by Karen Tumulty on what Warren Buffett thinks about the big players in this economic crisis and bailout.

Buffett is convinced this bailout is going to turn out to be a terrific deal for the federal government, assuming it buys these distressed assets at market prices, and quipped, “I would take 1% of the Treasury’s action.” (In fact, one proposal he made was to have private investors join in as partners in some of these deals, taking their cut only after the feds recoup the taxpayer investment.)

He had high praise for Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and urged whoever gets elected in November to keep him on into the next Administration. Buffett also said one of the unsung heroes of this crisis–which he described as “an economic Pearl Harbor”–has been FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, who has managed to hold the banking system together in recent weeks by helping to engineer a series of takeovers. “In my book, she stands higher than any CEO in America today,” Buffett said.

And another jab at the govenment’s low expectations of rich people like him:

And Buffett had his usual wry commentary on the tax system, noting that he is now paying a lower rate than he ever has, including back when he delivered newspapers, and that it is lower than the tax rate paid by the cleaning lady in his office. “The government looks at me, and says, ‘You’re like the condor and the spotted owl. We have to protect you,’ ” Buffett said. And he noted that he is getting this bonanza without the use of any tax shelters, or even a tax planner. But then he quickly corrected himself: “I guess I do have a tax planner. His name is President Bush.”

A friend of mine has been organizing the event at Brookings today where Secretary Paulson was scheduled to speak.  It’s obviously been a crazy week, and to top it off, he just cancelled.  No time to talk while you’re saving the world… or watching helplessly as the economy collapses around you, as the case may be.

What a mess.