DISQUS

Berin Szoka · 1 year ago

Damn, I thought I was being clever with my Yeats reference, but I see that Dave Weigel beat me to the punch by several hours on the Reason blog: http://www.reason.com/blog/show/129250.html

michaelanthonycole1 · 1 year ago

We know things are bad when Cong. Frank is wary of more socialism! However, Frank's "socialism" is not merely expensive. It's inconsistent with limited government. There's more to take away from Frank's concern than shock at the bailout's expense. Indeed, the "blank check" given in 2002/2003 has drawn more funds than this one promises to.

It is the expansion of government's areas of concern and authority that should concern us most about the bailout . Section 8 of the failed plan provided expansive authority for the Secretary, and Sen. Dodd's plan specified new federal bureaucracies to manage the government's new stake in the markets. I haven't read a summary of the new plan, but I see no reason to believe that these features will change substantially. Therein lies the bailout's great corruption, regardless of the pricetag.

cgun · 1 year ago

I wouldn't worry that much about Barney Frank's dire warnings. He was being sarcastic. He's not worried that George W. Bush, who's never seen a deregulation bill he didn't want to pass, is transforming the country into a socialist empire by authoring this bill. Frank is poking fun at Rep. Hensarling's "the sky is falling" argument. But it looks like the irony went over a few people's heads.

Luis · 1 year ago

Glad someone here has the sense to see that this was sarcasm...