Barney Frank’s legacy (and Chris Dodd’s)

Work hard, save your money, utilize credit responsibly – and you’ll wind up getting screwed by the government. Zero Hedge shows that the middle class is, once again, bearing the brunt of the continuing housing crisis. A tasty sample:

And before the indignant reactions surge that this is in some way an ethical condemnation of the poor (or the rich, although we are far less concerned with that accusation), it is not: people, regardless of social status, poor, middle-class, wealthy, will act according to their motivations first and foremost, which are primarily driven around greed, and the various other deadly sins. If given the option to upgrade one's standard of living, and told to not worry about much else, everyone would take advantage. Obviously, the hangover always comes, but that never stopped anyone from drinking the night before.

The problem arises when none other than the government, which is the worst, most corrupt, most conflicted arbiter and enforcer of human behavior, is put in the position of determining how to encourage mass social behavior for the future: this is central planning at its absolute worst [emphasis mine – P.]

Oh, by the way, while I’ve got your attention. Paco Enterprises is going to follow Denny’s lead and start charging an Obamacare tax for the privilege of reading this blog. Since my tax will be progressive – 0.01% of your adjusted income times the number of page views per year – I’ll need to see your tax returns. This is, of course, voluntary - just like federal income tax payments. So is the jail time for non-compliance (i.e., if you elect not to pay, then you’re volunteering to go to jail). And don’t think you can get around the tax by reading this blog in Switzerland.