Molly Ivins is outraged at the mutual funds

She's mad, and justifiably so. And she hits on one of the big points I've been trying to make to my friends: If regulation is so bad, why in the hell did we start doing it? Its because, when unregulated, these companies will take advantage of the American people. We don't like that, and we as a people need to realize that these conniving bastard Republicans want to take our money and put it in their pockets, under the guise of "free markets".

Molly Ivins 11/4/03: Mutual fund fleecing

AUSTIN, Texas -- I'd really like to know: What were they thinking? What did the traders, directors and managers of mutual funds think they were doing? Did they think, "Everybody does it?" Did they figure, "It's not really stealing; not actually taking money away from someone, it's just that they won't make as much as they might have?" Did they think the big customers were entitled to more? Why?

A series of mutual fund folks appeared before the Senate governmental affairs hearing on the issue this week. "Outrage," "Shocking," "Betrayal," they all said. Better compliance system, rule changes, regulatory action, reforms, restitution, they all said. Among other things, these Senate hearings should be required viewing for every right-wing ideologue who rants against government regulations -- those horrible, onerous government regulations. If you want to know why government regulations get written in the first place, this is the perfect opportunity. It's a huge, stinking scandal that affects the savings and pensions of millions of people, and the very people who created it are now begging for new regulations.

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We have to keep connecting these dots. These are not isolated instances of misbehavior, not "a few bad apples." Enron, Worldcom and all the rest of the frauds took place because they were allowed to, because the perpetrators had bought off or bent enough regulations to get away with it. Hey, you take away the regulations and it's all legal! Just as though you'd repealed the law against sticking up the Jiffy Mart.