Makes you think.

Dem illusionists are hard at work trying to prove the imminent collapse of “capitalism” and the desperate need for regulation. If it’s capitalism that’s collapsing it’s for sure an ischemic capitalism much like a cigarette boat (zooom!) slowed down by two feet of barnacles all over its hull. But the Dem version of “capitalism” so in need of regulation, now, is like the pristine craft Don Johnson loved to race around Miami in. (At least its watery parts.)

So, don’t expect the flacks and goofs on the Dem “Today’s Talking Points and Character Assassination Target” email address list to bring up the laws and regulations that worked so well to create the crazed financial situation that obtained last year and earlier. Remember Clinton’s good work to repeal Glass-Steagall? And Barney Frank’s ardent support for the Community Reinvestment Act? Surely you’ve read about it in all the papers.

On top of this all we have the “Ready! Fire! Aim!” strategy, a template copy of which seems to have been slipped into Mr. Obama’s Columbia and Harvard sheepskins as a parting gift for him -- and now for us. As part of that strategy (Bride of Alinsky New Deal) we see, thanks to the Wall Street Journal, just how unserious the Obamazoids are about tackling basic problems of the financial world:

Without the ratings agency [Standard & Poor, Moody's or Fitch Ratings] seal of approval -- required by SEC, Federal Reserve and state regulation for many institutional investors -- it would have been nearly impossible to market the structured financial products at the heart of the crisis. Yet Team Obama suggests only that regulators reduce the agencies' favored role "wherever possible."

* * *

The truth is that the strongest defenders of this flawed system are mutual funds, state pension administrators and the federal regulators now managing the various bailout programs.

What one thing can you say for sure about the financial meltdown? Why, that dubious subprime mortgages were taken, packaged, and moved out the door into the wide world of commerce that relied on objective, honest ratings but didn't get them (or should have insisted on them).

Mickey Rooney could probably have done something intelligent about the rating agencies but not these jaspers. They still need additional time on the playground tricky bars before graduating to where grownups order their affairs and the affairs of their fellow citizens.

"A Triple-A Punt. Treasury's reform plan gives the credit raters a pass." Wall Street Journal, 6/23/09.