Democrats Don’t Understand Economics

Stymied by the failure of their mortgage modification plan, the Obama administration is trying a new tactic- paying people to sell their homes.

I’m not sure which of the following negative consequences of this program is worse- that the government is encouraging irresponsible, “no-consequences” behavior; that the government is butting into the housing market again; or that the New York Times article linked above has this near the beginning (emphasis mine):

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

This is yet another stupid waste of taxpayer dollars. Don’t these people get it? By getting involved in the housing market, the government is skewing the housing market, much as it did to create this mess. Secondly, the government is telling people that they will be rewarded for their irresponsible behavior with government assistance, something that also helped create this economic downturn. Lastly, the NYT author clearly doesn’t understand that a recession has exactly one solution, namely for people and government to let the cycle swing as it will.

In reality, the problem has not defied solutions- it has defied solutions to change its course before the mid-term elections.