Credit where credit's due

“Well, the last administration did it.” I’m consistently amazed by this rationale offered by defenders of the current administration for blatantly wrong-headed moves. Rack up trillion dollar deficits. The solution, apparently, is to add $2 trillion more. We induced moral hazard in housing during the Bush years, so the fix is to put policies and procedures in place that induce more.

The credit card industry is the latest to fall under the purview of the nation’s chief executive (I don’t mean that in the traditional sense, and this is his first foray in to the private sector, BTW). According to the Wall Street Journal, President Obama is meeting with industry players to put pressure on companies over their credit card fees and lending practices. Our old friend Chris Dodd (sigh), defender of the people from mortgage giants … oh, wait, insurance carriers … damn … banks …never mind, is drafting a bill to do the same.