Barack Obama's arguing for unscrupulous lenders to be fined, and the proceeds used to bail out borrowers facing foreclosure. That's radical stuff. Is it a good idea? It's certainly a better idea than bailing out the mortgage companies. You don't want profits to be private while losses become public. And administration seems tricky: How you decide who was unscrupulous, how much they should be fined, and how you redistribute the proceeds will be tough. In any case, I'm not an expert in this stuff, and can't really evaluate the proposal. My hunch is nothing like this would ever pass, but it's smart politics, and places Obama on the right side of the issue.
