No bailout: this guy nails it

[Venkman]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/...out/index.html

Talk of Armageddon, however, is ridiculous scare-mongering. If financial institutions cannot make productive loans, a profit opportunity exists for someone else. This might not happen instantly, but it will happen.

Further, the current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street's hope of a bailout; bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the dollar if the government might pay 30, 50, or 80 cents.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link.

So what should the government do? Eliminate those policies that generated the current mess. This means, at a general level, abandoning the goal of home ownership independent of ability to pay. This means, in particular, getting rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.

I wonder if there will be pressure to dump the mortgage interest deduction?

[SeattleUte]

I linked it first. I'm sorry you're ignoring me, JL. That's petty.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I linked it first. I'm sorry you're ignoring me, JL. That's petty.

Ha. I am swamped with work and struggling to keep up. I had to do a search for the Sanford video you mentioned.

BTW, you are ignoring the Olmert article.

[Venkman]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I linked it first. I'm sorry you're ignoring me, JL. That's petty.

Sorry, I read the thread but didn't open the link.