Revisionist History of the Housing Crisis

I pretty much stopped reading Amity Shlaes' columns on Bloomberg a couple years ago.  She has become the queen of revisionist history.  I stopped reading her when she actually said that FDR had nothing to do with getting us out of the Depression;  if we had just kept following the economic policies of Cal Coolidge the Depression would have been over in no time.  Really...I'm not making this up.  Talk about revisionist history!

Well, I didn't learn my lesson well enough I guess.  I read her op-ed column today.  It's her take on the mortgage interest deduction.  There are good arguments to be made for getting rid of the deduction, but her analysis of the housing crash is just another bit of revisionist history.  Guess who were the only causes of the housing crash?  You guessed it...Freddy, Fanny, and the Fed.  In other words, it was all the fault of government.

Earth to Amity...The housing crisis in its enormity was caused by (1) the reckless securitization of mortgages; (2) rating agencies that rated these securities AAA; (3) derivative products that were designed and sold to "guarantee" these securities; and (4) the fact that such products were totally unregulated.  All four of these issues were failures of the private sector.  It didn't happen because of too much government; rather, there wasn't enough government regulation.  It's hard for the true believers like Ms. Shlaes to own up to this fact, because it is a matter of religion to them that every problem is cause by government.

Freddy, Fanny, and the Fed all have existed for many years.  Isn't it ironic that Glass-Steagall is repealed and the bill to regulate the types of derivatives I mentioned above was defeated, and a relatively few years later we have the biggest financial meltdown and housing crisis since the Depression?  Trying to blame it on Freddy, Fanny, and the Fed is the ultimate revisionism.

It was my own fault for actually wasting my time by reading the column.

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How Soon We Forget...Or at Least Paul Ryan Did

I saw this item today in Daily Kos. It seems that Paul Ryan gave a speech (in Ohio, I think) where he blamed Obama for the GM plant closing in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. The only problem is that the plant closed while George W was in the White House. The last SUV came off the assembly line in December of 2008, and was planned for well before that. The video from Kos gives a pretty good chronology.

Well...for one thing, Janesville residents may wonder why Ryan has such a shaky grasp of the city's recent history, but oh well. Oh yeah...the $4 gasoline he talks about must be the $4 gasoline price when Bush was president, earlier in 2008. I guess he forgot that, too?

Another Bain Story

Another story (link is here)--this one from William Cohan at Bloomberg--showcasing Mitt Romney's vision for America.

Bain Capital Creating More Jobs (In China)

Here is a story on another fine example of Bain Capital job creation (in China).

Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand

I am welcoming (maybe challenging is a better word) my WELS brothers and sisters (as well as any other Christian right-winger) to comment on Paul Ryan's claim that atheist Ayn Rand provides the moral basis for capitalism.  I can hardly wait to see the way you rationalize your way around this, but I'm sure you will try.  I will be interested in seeing the Biblical references you use to justify Ms. Rand's moral authority.

Can you imagine what would happen if a Democrat claimed an atheist for his or her moral hero?  Yikes!!

Sunday Morning

Okay, so I'm sitting in church this morning and it's the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Epistle reading for today is part of Ephesians Chapter 4, which includes the following passage:

...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace....

And then I list in my head all those who have been put forth as spokespersons for the Christian Right.  Folks like Michele Bachmann, Tony Perkins, Sarah Palin, James Dobson, Michelle Malkin, Franklin Graham, Ann Coulter, etc. etc.  I am amazed at the disconnect.  It's pretty hard to reconcile this passage from Ephesians with the hatefulness, divisiveness, arrogant judgmentalism, and general neo-Phariseeism that is the stock in trade of this list of people and most of the Christian Right.

It's even more disappointing (but, alas, not surprising) that my church body (WELS) gives its tacit endorsement to all of this nonsense.  It appears that WELS is willing to overlook all sorts of doctrinal false teaching, so long as they agree with their politics.