hindsight is 20/20

way back in february of this year, an attorney named sean olender wrote an article warning about the fannie/freddie bailout fiasco and it turns out, many, many others [like major economists] predicted just such a thing. at that time, no one was paying attention to the warnings because everyone was out spending their stimulus packages or something. if there is one thing our government really knows how to do, it is distract the public.

the original article can be found here. the following paragraph from the article really made me shake my head and sigh. can you believe it has come to this?

In support of the economic stimulus bill, Bush will have to face "working American families" and explain that some of their tax money is going to be spent guaranteeing $730,000 mortgages on $1 million homes. It's like some sort of upside-down communism where the poor pay the rich welfare. Why should taxes from families earning $48,000 a year be used to support expensive mortgages in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco? Welfare for the hungry and homeless is evil, but welfare for million-dollar homeowners facing a tough refi ... well, that's called "helping the economy."

If we're going to have a government-financed intervention, it should be to make sure that Social Security benefits go to those who paid for them, that the poor are fed and housed, or that the army of uninsured receive health benefits. If, as they say, we don't have enough money for those important things, then I think we don't have enough money to bail out banks and bond investors.