Comrade Bill (Bradley) Recommends Socialism To Cure Our Ills

Bill Bradley used to be a Democratic Senator from New Jersey. Way, way back when, during the Reagan era, he co-authored a bill to cut tax rates.

I now believe that may have been the single non-liberal act of his entire Senate career. Witness his "Five Ways to Restore Financial Trust" editorial in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Of the five ideas "Dollar Bill" expressed, three are socialist and one is just plain stupid.

Bradley recommends that the federal government insure delinquent mortgage loans for 60% of face value, thus providing a floor from which, Bill believes, all financial and economic activity may rebound.

Too bad about the US taxpayer subsidizing all those bad mortgages. But, for Comrade Bill, it's just another day in the Gulag.

Then Bill wants the federal government to make all adjustable rate mortgages become fixed rate, with...guess who?....paying the difference. Yep. Added to the cramdown costs of cutting mortgage principal and interest, taxpayers will also pay to make all home loans into fixed rate instruments.

Then Bradley advocates the US government buying half of any IPO. Not content with totally mucking up the housing market, Bill wants Uncle Sam to become an equal partner in the one thing our economy has managed to do well without government intervention- innovate.

If you think commercial banks rue taking TARP funds, wait until entrepreneurs are forced to give half of their new company to the government.

Can we spell t-a-k-i-n-g?

Along the way, Bradley concludes that, despite the TARP, the stimulus bill, his own mortgage-related giveaways, and IPO purchases, government needs to slim down.

So in addition to unspecified budget cuts- you know, the kind Wonderboy promised he'd deliver after spending nights with a fine-tooth comb going over the Federal budget- Bradley recommends raising taxes "in the next two to three years."

That's great, Bill. What isn't ruined already with your dumb economic ideas will surely collapse under the weight of new taxes. Then the Feds can move in and take over those businesses, too.

Comrade Bill sounds ready to go to work in the First Rookie's coming nationalized economy.

What I can't figure out is why the Journal published Bradley's ravings. Maybe they want to let him trash his reputation for common sense once and for all?