"Public Outcry" Over Mortgage "Crisis"

The so-called "mortgage crisis" doesn't come up in conversation very often in my circles, but when it does I usually hear things like, "Stupid bastards go hip-deep in debt buying houses they can't afford with interest-only loans." Living beyond ones means is what I believe people used to call it when personal responsibility was "in." Whatever you call it, I don't hear much sympathy for the "victims" of "predatory lenders" out here on the street.

But whenever I turn on my TV (unless I'm turning on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon for my kid) all I hear about is the mortgage mess. Apparently Congress is buying into the hype that the media is creating and should be passing, any day now, a "bail out" of the people too dumb to read fine print. I am reminded of the "public outcry" for campaign finance reform and comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty), where the only people pushing for the crap were the media and the politicians themselves.

Maybe Congress is so anxious to "help" because in their hearts they know that they created this mess. They fiddled with the free market to encourage home ownership. They worked to keep interest rates artificially low. They leaned on lenders to give money to the poor and minorities who the lenders might not normally lend money to. Turns out there was a reason lenders didn't want to give them loans, namely they can't afford to pay it back! Congress "fixing" the economy is like having a squirrel monkey fix circuit boards with a soldering iron: They'll screw it up and somebody's gonna get burned.

Luckily for deadbeats everywhere, Congress already had a pistol stuck in the U.S. taxpayers' ribs, so stealing a little more to bail out bad borrowers is no problem. Once again (and as always) responsible taxpayers will have to subsidize the stupidity, sloth, and irresponsibility of some of their fellow citizens and the federal government. When Congress' new "fix" quickly becomes the next problem, they'll just hand us the bill for that too.

So what is a solution to the "mortgage crisis" that doesn't bend taxpayers over a (pork) barrel? Easy: Nothing! Congress should do nothing. Borrowers and lenders who acted irresponsibly will fall on their faces. Sucks to be them. Once Congress has finished doling out a healthy dose of nothing, they should begin to remove the regulations that they themselves put in place which artificially tip the scales of the marketplace. In other words, "BUTT OUT!" (Bob Barr says it a little more eloquently in this press release.)

I think it should be no problem to convince Congress to do nothing and look like the impotent asses that they are, especially during an election year. I will begin holding my breath... now.