17 MAR 08 / "Over-Correcting"

President Bush warned last week that while the federal government has a role to play to help restore economic growth, there is a danger of over correcting and thereby exacerbating our problems.

The federal government is over correcting. Bear Stearns bailout JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns after the Federal Reserve backed Bear Steans's assets with $30 billion of taxpayer money.

Failure is part of the American system of free enterprise, and the federal government cannot prevent it. To do so is akin to attempting to circumvent a physical law of nature.

When government intercedes on behalf of private enterprise, it burdens itself with the failure. The private failure thereby becomes public and the economic hardship is worsened.

We probably have not even bottomed in this recession. And there's no doubt that we're in a recession, technically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in gross domestic product.

The Democratic candidates for president, not surprisingly, are promising the world. Free health care,

With the expansion of the federal goverment, Americans are required to take less and less responsibility for their own lives. Voters have been asking the government to bear the burden of living. This is vastly inefficient and dangerous. It has national security implications because ultimately a population that cannot take care of itself cannot defend itself.

The Bush administration, stung by the perception that it didn't do enough in the aftermath of Katrina, wants to be seen as doing something to revive the economy; but they are dealing with forces beyond their control. First, they should do no harm.