You heard it from John McCain, you heard it from Sarah Palin, now hear it from Rush Limbaugh:
I don't think that deregulation is the problem here. I think lack of regulation is the problem and it was the Democrats who did not want any regulations whatsoever.
How about "I don't think that deregulation is the problem here. I think that those ogranizations -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or any other damn lender or guarantor -- should have ever been chartered by the government in the first place." How about "We have created these moral hazards because we are not willing to make -- or even accept -- a moral defense of capitalism?"
Note that Limbaugh is not the worst of the conservatives on these economic issues; in fact, he's probably one of the best. Isn't saying much, I know. He also claims, in the transcript linked above, that he is proud not to be speaking "for" the Republican Party. He sure sounds like the rest of them.
Or is it that Rush wants that "maverick" label too?
Whether it's a full moral defense of capitalism or even a simple matter of reminding Americans that our Founding Fathers meant it when they wrote "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," we are seriously in the hurt locker. We have a long, long way to go.