PRES. FREDO MAKES AN ARGUMENT FOR SOCIALIZATION

I'm positive he doesn't look at it that way but it's a short step from his remarks about the Crunch to arguing for a socialized financial sector.

Dems on bailout: Include homeowners
By DAVID ROGERS 9/20/08 4:40 PM EDT
The Politico

“It turns out that there's a lot of interlinks through the financial system. The system had grown to a point where a lot of people were dependent upon each other and a collapse of one part of the system wouldn't just affect a part of the financial markets, it would affect ... capacity to borrow money, to buy a house or to finance a college loan. It'd affect the ability of a small business to get credit. In other words, the systemic risk was significant and it required a significant response. And Congress understands that and we'll work to get things done as quickly as possible.”

Of course, there are limits to socialization. Sec. Paulson doesn't want the Masters of the Universe to have their obscene levels of compensation lowered:

Frank, who has been in phone discussions with Paulson, said the secretary appeared receptive to adding some foreclosure-relief language. The second Democratic proposal — to impose compensation limits on Wall Street executives — is meeting more resistance.

“Hank says it’s a poison pill,” Frank said. “I say I don’t think it’s very patriotic for someone to not give up his golden parachute when we’re trying to save the markets.”

Paulson himself used to be a MOTU, so it's no wonder he wants to take care of his own.