Bailout Opinions from Around the Web

Walter Williams has a very good column about the bailouts. The ending paragraph sums it up pretty well.

The credit crunch and foreclosure problems are failures of government policy. In fact, what we see now is a market correction to foolhardy government policy. Congress' move to bailout lenders and borrowers who made poor decisions will simply create incentives for people to make unwise decisions in the future. English philosopher Herbert Spencer said, "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."

OneMom writes a great post about the ease with which the government can suck 700 billion from our pockets. Yet the average person has to jump through lots of hoops just to rent an apartment.

JR at A Keyboard and a .45 laments the insanity of it all.

Even the NY Times has a decent piece by Paul Kugman. These are the last two paragraphs.

And there’s no quid pro quo here — nothing that gives taxpayers a stake in the upside, nothing that ensures that the money is used to stabilize the system rather than reward the undeserving.

I hope I’m wrong about this. But let me say it again: Treasury needs to explain why this is supposed to work — not try to panic Congress into giving it a blank check. Otherwise, no deal.

And last, but not least, Matt at Search for Freedom has a post about how neither Obama or McCain is handling the situation well.

Truthfully, I’d like to hear the candidates promote personal financial responsibility. The American economy will only be truly successful when citizens collectively decide to stop living beyond their means.

These bailouts remind me of parents that coddle rebelious tweens. They end up with even more rebellious teens. Sometimes the best way to "help" is to let the person (or system) take the consequences. I don't see anything good coming from this.