Saving Americans by sticking it to them

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-24/saving-americans-requires-sticking-it-to-them-jonathan-weil.html

Last week, in a rare and possibly fleeting victory for the little guy, Ally Financial Inc.’s mortgage-servicing unit temporarily halted evictions tied to foreclosures in 23 states. This came after some attorneys for homeowners caught the company saying things that weren’t true in its court filings.

There’s no sense complaining to the federal government about Ally’s conduct, though. That’s because the Treasury Department is the company’s majority shareholder, after spending $17.2 billion of bailout money on Ally under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

With the benefit of hindsight and a little rephrasing, the government’s policy is clearer now: We have to let these bailed- out banks keep screwing the American people, in order to keep the American people from getting screwed on their investments in these bailed-out banks.

It makes no difference how many loan-modification programs the government creates, or what new consumer-protection agency Elizabeth Warren gets hired to lead. As long as the Treasury is supporting a company such as Ally, Americans will be right to conclude the government is two-faced and working against their own best interests.

This is what infuriates so many Americans about the bailout culture. When banks break the rules, consumers are supposed to be able to turn to the government for help. When Ally breaks the rules, though, it’s the Treasury’s own company that’s doing it.

Our government isn’t supposed to prey on its own people in the name of protecting our investments. It never should have gotten in this business in the first place.