Freddie Mac the Freeloader
Regarding the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage colossi, whose bailout could cost $200 billion:
"Doesn't this make the case for privatization, and powerfully at that? Don't forget that we are also sitting here with Social Security and Medicare leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $50 trillion in liabilities."
That's James Pethokoukis, economics columnist of U.S. News & World Report, quoted by reason contributor and Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi, who asks when will the government gravy stop being poured?
Airlines already have benefited from the largesse. Detroit's auto industry, it has been reported, hopes to secure $50 billion in additional federal loans to, you know, help out.
Well, because the Big Three built cars no one wanted, failed to embrace new technologies, offered sweetheart deals to executives, and surrendered to predatory union demands … naturally, they deserve a cushy government loan. (I only hope newspapers are afforded such compassionate treatment. We're a national treasure, after all.)…
Isn't it ironic that government bars a citizen from risking his own Social Security funds because it's too chancy yet uses your money to bail out companies that have engaged in the very behavior government supposedly is safeguarding us from?
And really, what's riskier than letting Washington handle your money?