"There is a much simpler way of breaking up banks deemed too big to fail. It's called ... letting them fail. When a bank fails, its assets are absorbed by more efficient institutions eager to expand. After a short period of suffering, the recovery begins. This is what is happening with the hundred-plus local or regional banks that failed last year. The notion that the entire system will come tumbling down if the government lets a mammoth financial institution fail is a superstition that invites recklessness in Wall Street — and postpones the recovery when something goes wrong."
Couldn't have said it better myself. That's the reason all the panic arose over the need to swiftly pass the TARP legislation in the fall of 2008, and then the subsequent bailouts and stimulus bills added up to trillions of taxpayer dollars for generations into the future that were all so wrong-headed. And it's the reason Senator Bennett should be struck down in his re-election bid. If he's not defeated in the convention, I will be amazed, if for no other reason than this one.
Tonight, President Obama attempts to convince us we owe everything to all the smart people in his administration and Congress for rescuing us all from the brink of disaster. Does anybody really believe that? Tough sell.
P.S. I had forgotten about a letter to the editor I wrote, dated October 1, 2008, when the House had voted against the TARP legislation in the first round. I can only lament that they caved when the Senate worked its will in opposition to the "people's house" -- and once again, it was Senator Bennett who overturned this vote I hailed. Don't forget Bennett's role in that drama -- I haven't.
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