A Government Fix For Something Government Broke UPDATED
Demagogic politicians, especially the ones with a D behind their name, are always blaming those in the private sector for the problems facing this country. Here’s a hint folks. If a politician is constantly stirring up rage and anger against people that engage in the free market, then it is, to paraphrase the great Milton Friedman, quite likely that this particular government lover has a “lack of belief in freedom itself”.
When the price of gas goes up, the authoritarian, anti-capitalists bring the oil companies before Congress and accuse them of wrongdoing. Recently, realizing that the public is tiring of oil company demagoguery, the politicians have resorted to blaming the speculators. But Americans are finally wising up and realizing that this “problem” was created by Washington.
Another example, so masterfully pointed out by Thomas Sowell, is the so called mortgage crisis. Once again, we have a problem created by Congress. Congress demagogues the issue and blames the private sector. Then Congress decides they, yes they,are the ones who should fix the problem.
From Sowell.
Shocking as it may be to some, lenders are in the business of making money, and they don’t much care whose money it is, so long as they get paid.
Politicians, on the other hand, are in the business of getting votes, and they don’t much care whose votes it is– or what they have to say or do in order to get those votes.
It was government intervention in the financial markets, which is now supposed to save the situation, that created the problem in the first place.
Laws and regulations pressured lending institutions to lend to people that they were not lending to, given the economic realities. The Community Reinvestment Act forced them to lend in places where they did not want to send their money, and where neither they nor the politicians wanted to walk.
Now that this whole situation has blown up in everybody’s face, the government intervention that brought on this disaster in is supposed to save the day.
Government intervention in markets is never good. But today we have a government that feels the need to intervene in just about everything. They screw things up and then have the nerve to tell us that they have the solution to the problem, the problem they created.
In closing, how about we pressure our Congressmen to move their personal residences to some of these neighborhoods that they forced these lenders to do business in. After all, we need to be fair, don’t we?
UPDATE: To illustrate the stupidity of the government lovers, read this from S-Town Mike.
In San Diego a disproportionate share of subprime loans were doled out two and three years ago to minorities and immigrants in the same zip codes with predatory arrogance and wishful thinking.
What a blithering idiot! Thanks to Equal Housing laws dumbass, the lenders were forced to grant these loans. Now you label these people predators, because as expected, these loans defaulted. Amazing!