Dumb
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Some blowhard politician of one sort or another in Kentucky is railing against the Feds' plan to save Freddie and Fannie. He talks like he's at a barbeque:
"To me, that smacks of socialism, and I don't want my free markets to be socialized," Bunning said.
"I don't want no ketchup on my burger, y'hear? I prefer it without." he added.
"... I don't think it works real well, and I don't think the American people want that at all."
His comments are stupid and not particularly worth commenting on. Still, they're a symptom of something very strange in Congress, which is a total lack of reality. This Kentucky senator obviously doesn't understand what would happen if Fannie and Freddie failed, just fell flat on their faces after 70 and 30 years of operations, respectively, and five trillion of assets between them. That would be the end of America. Here we are at the brink, and some southern idiot who thinks we're at a barbeque is yelling about socialism.
WE HAVE NO CHOICE. The government has to intervene. If it doesn't, and the market panics and the companies fall into the abyss, there will be barely any free market left to talk about. America will look like a plane crashing, with oxygen masks jiggling from the ceiling, people screaming, luggage and chairs getting ripped onto the horizon...
"I don't want my free markets to be socialized."