What Free Markets?

I LOVE capitalism. It may not always be fair (whatever fair means) but is the economic system that rewards rewards creativity and allows people to have the most control over their financial destiny. That's why this whole Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae bailout KILLS me. The shareholders are going to get nothing while the big investors/underwriters will get nearly all of their money. The treasury department says this was necessary to keep foreign investment flowing into the banking system to avoid an even bigger crash. I say bullshit. Since when is investment in for profit US companies backed by the US Treasury?

All this does is prop up a market that shouldn't be propped up. If banks are a shitty investment, so be it. What this means is that the big money players got into the game where they could make big profits in good times with NO RISK in bad ones. Where do I sign up for that?

And remember, this whole thing was started by greedy mortgage companies and people who can't do math well enough to figure out whether they can pay for a house. Why in the world would we want to bail out either of those two groups?

This kind of bailout only encourages a future bubble that will burst. Just like when the feds give cheap loans to people to rebuild in flood plains after the big on. It will happen again. And we get to pay for it.

Oh, and since the bailout saves big Wall Street contributors, guess where both Obama and McCain stand on the issue?