why do you believe that the solution is to get rid of the government?
I don't believe the solution is to get rid of the government. What you describe there is anarchy which is quite distinct from libertarianism. I am also not saying we should get rid of all regulatory oversight. We had sufficient regulation when this was going on.
Regulators in the SEC did notice and report around 2005-2006. Congressional hearings were held then. No regulator can help us when the congressmen, particularly high level ones in the banking committee, are in on the scam actively fighting the regulators at the hearings telling them that Fannie and Freddie are "fundamentally sound."
The political call now is for "more regulation" and to "clean up Washington.". What is really meant is not more regulation but more direct control. The same kind of crooked control that led us into this disaster in the first place.
i believe the solution is to clean up the government
I'm sure you mean well but there is no cleaning up of big government. It cannot be done; it has never been done; it will never be done. Every attempt to do it has involved giving the government even greater power under the ruse that they need more power to clean things up. Once they have this power instead of cleaning themselves up they immediately turn on you and me, usually with weapons in hand.
Listen to what you are saying. You are talking about increasing regulations and giving the government ever more power. Just step back and listen to yourself then reread the previous paragraph.
When you're done mulling that over, let me also make it clear that the banks did nothing criminal. They gave loans to people, which is equivalent to purchasing their IOUs. Although the banks knew most of the IOUs were worthless they already had buyers, starting with Fannie and Freddie then later branching out to hedge funds. The buyers kept telling the banks to keep buying junk IOUs because they, the buyers, wanted even more. So from the banks point of view they were making a sound business decision. Sure they were buying junk but they were buying junk that they already had a buyer for. Why not buy it and immediately sell it at a profit?
The scam is directly from the federal government. The banks were involved for two main reasons: 1. Too many subprime loans direct from the government would be suspicious but if you use the banks as agencies it won't be found out for years. 2. When it eventually comes crashing down you have a convenient scape goat to point the finger at.
No regulation in the world can prevent a crisis directly caused by government. Clearly though I must be the daft, insane, propagandized one for thinking if the banks were just the middle men (as is their business) and people in the government caused the problem then we should be getting rid of the people in the government instead of helping those same people go after the banks.
Call me a fool, that's fine. But you're only fooling yourself if you think giving the government more power to clean up their own mess is going to lead us anywhere other than straight into bondage. You are right that government has to be cleaned up. But the only way to do it is to strip it of all but the most essential powers and decentralize it.
I don't blame you for calling me names. It's extremely hard to believe in a movement and believe in the people leading it and bring yourself to the realization that, in truth, they are just a fresh bunch of crooks.
Barlow, the author of the article here, is also having trouble coming to terms with this. He lays out the solution: decentralize the government. I think he may be going too far talking about nation-states moving back to city-states. The federal government still has some very important roles to play, among them maintaining free interstate commerce, making international agreements, and organizing the common defense.
What Barlow cannot do is bring himself to admit that the Obama administration is furthering the problem. Instead he's making excuses blaming the problems with government on increased transparency in the internet age. At least he's figured out we have a problem and he's rediscovered the solution even though he can't bring himself to admit the causes.
The first step is admitting we have a problem. J.P. Barlow took that step. Who else among us has that strength?