Legal Commentary

Glib

By Big Tent Democrat

Kevin Drum calls criticisms of the Geithner plan "glib." Which takes some real chutzpah when Drum glibly declares:

Obviously, then, there's tremendous uncertainty about future default rates. But the market appears to be valuing most mortgage-backed securities these days at something like 30 cents on the dollar. That's crazy. . . . 30 cents on the dollar simply doesn't represent a reasonable long-term value for most of this stuff.

Let's assume Drum's glib assertions are true. Why in heaven's name then does the government need private sector "skin" at all? Why not just buy these 'obviously' undervalued assets? Why does the government have to give non-recourse loans to private players to get them in? I'll tell you why - because the Geithner plan is about saving Wall Street, not saving the economy. More . . .

If Kevin realy believes what he wrote, he should be denouncing the Geithner Plan for having ANY private sector involvement. There is a killing to be made that could pay for health care, climate change and all the liberal dreams one could imagine. Of coruse the truth is Drum's asertions are not true. Nobody knows what the value of these assets is. But it is damn easy to glibly assert that they are wildly undervalued. After all, when you have no skin in the game, what's it to you?

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 22, 2009 (boomark / email).