Is George W. Bush a New Dealer?

ILLUSTRATED: Reaganism is dead. No one can believe anymore in the unfettered marketplace. Democrats simply need to include these needed financial bailouts as part of our meta-theme of government as a public trust that serves the public interest.

A few months ago I questioned what Ronald Reagan would think of Treasury Secretary Paulson's new regulatory scheme. At that point it seemed that the conservative narrative about government regulation being the enemy of growth seemed severely compromised. But now, this bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is like the second coming of FDR. Continuing with the back to the 30s theme, in the past few days there is a run on the bank IndyMac that just got taken over by federal regulators.

I really don't know what the conservative movement has to say about this. I like to say that conservatives value property rights, efficiency, and order. Liberals value human rights, equity, and justice. We have a Republican administration taking over financial institutions, and it is obvious that people would lose their property otherwise. I don't know how conservatives square this one.

Democrats simply need to maintain that government is there to ensure a fair market that even the little guy doesn't get taken advantage of.