Kimberly A. Strassel: 'Greed' Is Not Good

From today's WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123751023925990683.html

Bankers are not the only ones who succumb to greed.

Highlights:

Once upon a time, Washington told the nation a story. It was a dark tale of economic distress brought on by villainous, greedy Wall Street bankers.

The storytellers loved this yarn. The public wanted some one to blame for their unemployment, their foreclosures, their falling 401ks, and Wall Street made an easy target. It was also so much simpler than the real story of societal credit mania, in which the Federal Reserve, Congress, regulators, credit-rating agencies, Fannie and Freddie, Wall Street -- and yes, many homeowners and consumers -- were all complicit.

...

This spectacle has left the financial community with one impression: Stay away. What healthy bank, what hedge fund, what private equity firm wants to take part in an Obama plan to sell off toxic assets, or to revive consumer lending, with the knowledge that they might be Washington's newest bonfire? Executives are already working to get out of TARP, fearful of political punishment. This despite a recession, falling house prices and growing bank losses.

As it happens, the administration has suggested the banks might need yet more public capital, not less. But just who in Congress is today prepared to vote to provide more funding, with greedy AIG on the public mind? It's too busy passing laws to levy 90% taxes on bank employees everywhere.