So the Republicans think that the solution to the current economic crisis is to get government out of the way and let the private sector do its job (this per the veep candidate’s interview with Charles Gibson).

Well, the reason we are in this current economic is because of the private sector. Homebuilders — those big publicly traded developers like DR Horton, Centex, Toll, and KB Home — overbuilt their suburban subdivisions, creating a glut of housing stock.

Mortgage companies and banks, lured by the gleam of high-interest loans that offered a greater return on investment, made bad loans to customers who couldn’t repay them, often under predatory lending terms, and bundled these loans into packages and sold them to investment banks and other investors.

Those investors in turn ignored the content of the loans and fixated only on the putative rate of return.

Now the chickens are coming home to roost. And the taxpayer is being forced to bail out huge companies. We the taxpayers are guaranteeing Bear Stearns’ debts so that JPMorgan Chase wouldn’t be stuck with those losses when it agreed to buy the bank. We the taxpayers are bailing out Freddie and Fannie (basically to protect China’s investments, but that’s another story for another time.)

Let’s be very clear. The reason we are in this economic crisis is not because of the government. (Although it would help if we weren’t fighting two wars, only one of which — the one we aren’t paying attention to — made any sense at all.) The reason we are in economic crisis is because of the private sector. Our choice is simple. Do we want to keep bailing out companies that put greed and profits ahead of sound business practices? Or do we want to ensure that our economy works for the American people, instead of treating them as consumers, rubes, and suckers.

A vote for Republicans this election is a vote against yourself, your security, your children’s future stability, and your retirement. It’s a vote for banks, mortgage companies, foreign government investors, and oil companies.