St. Paul
Whatever his flaws, Ron Paul is the only politician (that I’m aware) adamantly stating the obvious folly of Government meddling in the economy.
Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to obtain a [coercive] monopoly position in the mortgage market, especially the mortgage-backed securities market, because of the advantages bestowed upon them by the federal government.
Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.
These governmental measures, combined with the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy, led to an unsustainable housing boom. The key measure by which the Fed caused this boom was through the manipulation of interest rates, and the open market operations that accompany this lowering.
Same ole story, different scale. Controls breed controls - always have, always will.
This bill seems to be almost unanimously rejected by both sides of the pragmatic isle. Instinctively, the slightly more rational economic sense of the right invokes hesitation for support - not enough to outweigh their altruistic motives nor the temptation to seize the power-steak dangling before them.
The left, who burns with a passion to further socialize our economy, but are loathe to support Bush in such a “progressive” measure - especially one which could remedy the punishment of economic accountability for corporate executives, can’t stand not getting credit for one of their signature plays. To them, the bill isn’t quite unjust or irrational enough. They’ll compromise anything, including their own non-principles.
Damn! They’re amusing as long as you ignore the fact that they’re destroying America.
