So, President Bush has announced that his team is "on top of" the nation's economic situation -- the ever-widening real estate mess, the collapse of Bear Stearns and its federally-assisted buyout by JPMorganChase, and the fears that other large financial firms face similar futures.
Let's see, now...this is the guy who gave us the largest single entitlement increase since the Great Society -- the prescription drugs welfare for seniors bill. This is the guy who federalized education with No Child Left Behind. This is the guy who signed the McCain-Feingold anti-free speech legislation into law, even while opining that it was probably unconstitutional. This is the guy who has told us that when people hurt, government has to act. This is the guy whose economic team has recently floated the trial balloon of licensing for mortgage brokers.
Do remember the Mises observation that government interventions in the economy create problems, which are then used to argue for yet more interventions, which create more problems...
Or remember Wesley Mouch's wail, "I need more powers!"
Remember that line from The Fly: "Be afraid. Be very afraid."
The Bush team is on top of the problem? That's what I'm afraid of.
Posted by Craig Ceely at March 19, 2008 08:59 PM