They just can’t seem to help themselves:
WASHINGTON — The mortgage industry, facing the prospect of tougher regulations for its central role in the housing crisis, has begun an intensive campaign to fight back.
As the Federal Reserve completes work on rules to root out abuses by lenders, its plan has run into a buzz saw of criticism from bankers, mortgage brokers and other parts of the housing industry. One common industry criticism is that at a time of tight credit, tighter rules could make many mortgages more expensive by creating more paperwork and potentially exposing lenders to more lawsuits.
To the chagrin of consumer groups that have complained that the proposed rules are not strong enough, the industry’s criticism has already prompted the Fed to consider narrowing the scope of the plan so it applies to fewer loans.
Lucy tells Charlie Brown to trust her. Isn’t that just about what the money people are telling the Fed?
The Government has a duty to deal with the behavior that caused harm to our economy, ruined the lives of millions of families, and requires a big taxpayer bail out to keep it from flattening the entire financial system. The Fed has a duty to impose strict rules and if that means more paperwork, fine. If that inhibits the behavior that led to the problems, fine, too.
This age of inane conservative Republican economic/political policies began under President Reagan, and led directly to the Savings and Loan debacle of which the mortgage crisis it just another iteration.