Mortgage Bailout: “Bad Idea” That Could Delay Economic Recovery

The Senate is poised to pass a foolish mortgage bailout for certain borrowers.  Robert Samuelson explains in the Washington Post why a similar House proposal by Barney Frank (D-Mass.)  is a “bad idea” that could “perversely delay the housing recovery” if it enacted.  The bailout proposal has “two glaring problems: one moral, the other economic.”   And it reserves the “privilege” of a bailout “for an estimated 1 million to 2 million homeowners who are the weakest and most careless borrowers,” while excluding responsible “people who made larger downpayments.”  The American public opposes mortgage bailouts in public opinion polls, but that doesn’t stop politicians from pandering to whiny, irresponsible borrowers who claim it’s hard to pay their bills, who are invariably portrayed sympathetically by bleeding-heart journalists at places like ABC News.