The DC Examiner has a mostly wonderful editorial pointing out that the regulators missed the warning signs of the market crisis as much as the investment banks did. The Examiner properly concludes the question is not “more” or “less” regulation, but then wrongly implies there was no regulation “at all”. A very long Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General report on the Bear Stearns failure can be boiled down to the Examiner’s first point. The SEC saw warning signs at Bear Stearns, and Bear’s internal risk managers did as well. …
During the debate on the housing bailout bill last week, Democrats consistently justified their “American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act” by citing the Treasury Department’s involvement in JP Morgan’s purchase of Bear Stearns. Bill sponsor Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was typical: You didn’t get an answer on how the Bush administration, which strongly supported Bear Stearns through the Treasury Department and its appointees, how it’s OK to do $29 billion for Bear Stearns, but not $2.4 billion for homeowners. Frank has, no doubt, hit upon a convincing rhetorical argument …
Here’s a preview of the week ahead in Washington. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an2ZGW85Ad0[/youtube] Recent troubles with the financial and housing markets have lead to proposed action by Congress to help distressed homeowners and to find a government solution to the Bear Stearns collapse. Massive new billion-dollar handouts to aid homeowners and utilizing sweeping new power for the Federal Reserve will do nothing to change the fact that our economy is in a slowdown. Why doesn’t Congress reduce regulation, reduce taxes and allow for more domestic drilling for oil to lower energy prices? These …
The recent failures of Bear Stearns and the Carlyle Group, coupled with turmoil in the housing markets and overall pessimism about the economy, has Congress rushing to microphones to promise a legislative quick fix. Meanwhile, President Bush and the Federal Reserve are being second guessed by liberal economists for not promising more government intervention. What is the best course of action for the government to take? Today former congressman Ernest Istook, a distinguished fellow at Heritage, sat down with Heritage’s top economists, Bill Beach, David John and J.D. Foster, to …
The campaign to turn the current economic turmoil into justifications for new invasive federal government intervention in the marketplace is in full swing. The Hill reports, “After Bear Stearns bailout, Dems renew push to help homeowners,” and E.J. Dionne comments: “Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about … how government should keep its hands off the private economy. … The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and …
