Fanny And Freddy

I’m not a big David Brooks fan, but he takes the political class to task much more than he’s usually willing to in today’s column.

Morgenson and Rosner write with barely suppressed rage, as if great crimes are being committed. But there are no crimes. This is how Washington works. Only two of the characters in this tale come off as egregiously immoral. Johnson made $100 million while supposedly helping the poor. Representative Barney Frank, whose partner at the time worked for Fannie, was arrogantly dismissive when anybody raised doubts about the stability of the whole arrangement.

Most of the people were simply doing what reputable figures do in service to a supposedly good cause. Johnson roped in some of the most respected establishment names: Bill Daley, Tom Donilan, Joseph Stiglitz, Dianne Feinstein, Kit Bond, Franklin Raines, Larry Summers, Robert Zoellick, Ken Starr and so on.

Of course, it all came undone. Underneath, Fannie was a cancer that helped spread risky behavior and low standards across the housing industry. We all know what happened next.

The scandal has sent the message that the leadership class is fundamentally self-dealing. Leaders on the center-right and center-left are always trying to create public-private partnerships to spark socially productive activity. But the biggest public-private partnership to date led to shameless self-enrichment and disastrous results.

It has sent the message that we have hit the moment of demosclerosis. Washington is home to a vertiginous tangle of industry associations, activist groups, think tanks and communications shops. These forces have overwhelmed the government that was originally conceived by the founders.

The reckoning started last November, but the real one is yet to come.

8 thoughts on “Fanny And Freddy”

  1. “Washington is home to a vertiginous tangle of industry associations, activist groups, think tanks and communications shops. These forces have overwhelmed the government that was originally conceived by the founders.”

    He is putting the cart before the horse, mistaking effect for cause.

    Our government’s ability to interefere and subsequent inevitable meddling with the economy, is what pulled all those “forces” to the government. These entities didn’t overwhelm the government, the government harvested them after sowing their seeds. Either for the personal aggrandizement of our legislators and executives or their selfless desires to “do big things”.

  2. Money and influence gather around where decisions are made. Any guilt about skimming a little off the top is assuaged by how much “good” is being accomplished.

  3. The scandal has sent the message that the leadership class is fundamentally self-dealing.

    That message was sent generations ago. This latest just confirms that the graft dollar amounts are getting ever more vast.

  4. All of you; I call BS. If bankers weren’t fundamentally thieving sociopaths then the enabling of bad behaviour by government wouldn’t have made any difference.

  5. No, Fletcher — if it weren’t for the size and scope of the federal government they’d have to fleece people the old-fashioned way: face to face.

    Big Government makes it possible to industrialize graft, just like technology made it possible <Godwin alert> to industrialize mass murder in Nazi Germany.

    As for Ryan’s comment, I looked in vain for a “Like” button or a “Thumbs Up” icon and couldn’t find one. How 20th-century!

  6. You have to go web 1.0, McGehee, thusly:

    Our government’s ability to interefere and subsequent inevitable meddling with the economy, is what pulled all those “forces” to the government. These entities didn’t overwhelm the government, the government harvested them after sowing their seeds. Either for the personal aggrandizement of our legislators and executives or their selfless desires to “do big things”.

    QFT

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