Teh Stupid Hurts By: shep

by shep

What a surprise, the ever-angry howler monkeys on the right started flinging at the news that the government facilitated an industry agreement to freeze rate resets on certain categories of adjustable rate mortgages to: 1) help prevent a housing value collapse from tanking the economy leading to recession, 2) protect mortgage lenders and downstream investors from winding up with $billions of negative equity properties, 3) protect otherwise responsible home-buyers from losing their homes chiefly because of the (free-market) vagaries of the real estate market.

Much like the hue and cry that sank immigration reform (legalizing our cheap, immigrant labor force) this is another byproduct of decades of conservative/Republican propaganda leading to mass insanity based upon provably false ideology. It’s why someone like Lou Dobbs can spew racist hate-speech for an hour on what is euphemistically called a news channel.

Now I’m the last person to root for another government bailout of industry as we suffer (as we always do) from it’s own avarice, amorality and obviously unsustainable profit-producing practices (it would be far better to diligently regulate it in the first place). But the fact is, my little free-marketeers (like Mouseketeers but without the sweaters and “the funicellos”),

That. Is. Why. Industry. Needs. Government.

In this case, there is simply no mechanism to bring all of the affected commercial interests together to even create such a mutually beneficial deal (they’re competitors, remember?).

The financial instruments, structures and effects are so complex that no one in industry really understands them entirely.

If government can act as broker for a voluntary policy that seems to benefit everyone (including, uncharacteristically, even consumers) and costs no taxpayer money, what is the harm?!

The Wall Street Journal doesn’t like the idea because they see it as, “forcibly rewriting financial contracts.” The Journal’s editors apparently don’t share any of my credit card companies who forcibly rewrite our contracts on a regular basis. Besides it’s, um, VOLUNTARY!

The main popular objection seems to be that it’s somehow unfair to people who aren’t having a problem and it’s guvment, “interfering with the market.” Helllooooo, (I’m typing this slowly), without government regulation, There. Is. No. Market (unless you plan to devolve the marketplace to handicrafts and yard sales).

Are you like eleven? Have you seen how many times the “godamn govament” has had to step in to rescue us from industry and industry from themselves? Ever hear of the Savings and Loan crisis and the Dot Com bust? Enron anyone? (I know, it was all the govmint’s – or, alternately, the Democrat’s – fault).

Seriously, you people have been sold a contrived, thoroughly disproved ideology, you are always wrong about the role of government and you really need to STFU. There is no such thing as a healthy, highly-functional marketplace without a healthy, highly-functional government (that means run by people who understand and believe in it).

So, until the grownups can somewhat right this listing ship of state, limit yourselves to emailing Lou Dobbs. There, no one will notice teh stupid.

[Cross-posted at E Pluribus Unum]