Blame greed: Has America Been Punked?

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford mocks the notion that “greed” caused the financial crisis (that might have caused trouble had he been named McCain’s VP choice) and places the blame squarely on government (perhaps it was the “greed” of politicians).  In a Washington Times editorial: 

The irony is that those in Washington offering solutions and casting blame most loudly now are in many cases the same web of policy-makers who had the most bearing on what is unfolding. It’s important we not forget this.


Despite what today’s campaigning populists suggest, this was not a simple failure of capitalism. Its opposite, ‘crony-capitalism,’ is what paid over $100 million to the connected few who ran organizations like Fannie Mae in Washington. Politics drove a big part of what has happened, and as a consequence every one of us needs to be vigilant in making sure neither fear, nor the illusion of security, drives us to accept the newest proposals coming out of Washington. Without careful examination we risk living with consequences that will ultimately prove much more far-reaching than today’s current financial storm – and that would indeed make for a tragic ‘Punking’ of America.