“No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” So said Mark Twain more than a century ago, and many would still agree.
If interpreted in light of today’s philosophical leanings, that would make the country’s eminent humorist a small-government advocate, maybe even a Tea Partier!
But let’s look to the present day. First, we’d like to wish the new Congress success in tackling the many financial issues facing the country and the mortgage industry. Those wishes extend to the new top lines at the most relevant committees—
Of course, the bar for the new Congress is set very low. The Congress that just packed up and left after chaotic “fiscal cliff” maneuverings was a truly Do-Nothing Congress that deserves the opprobrium heaped upon it. Especially shameful was its failure to pass disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
The metaphor that comes to mind most easily to describe the last Congress is a boxing match. Specifically, the point in the match when one tired boxer grasps the opponent to tie him up, to prevent him from throwing more punches. A large faction of the last House of Representatives belonged to this tie up the government faction.
It’s worth it to point out that the tie-up is not the tactic of the boxer who is winning, but the one who is losing. It is a tactic born, not out of measured discourse on the role of government, but of desperation.
The government is one leg of a three-legged stool supporting the economy. When the other two legs, business and consumers, draw back into their shells, government must either take up some of the slack or wait out a nasty recession. As far as the mortgage business goes, the government traditionally provides huge support as a public policy measure. Take that away, and the mortgage business would be hard pressed to replace it. (Look at the longstanding debate over what to do with the bankrupt GSEs. No one has yet come up with a really good plan to replace them.)
Once a recession ends and the economy goes back to full throttle, that’s the time for the government to throttle back, to cut the deficit and pay back its vast debt.
