Legislation has terrible penmanship
To understand the cacophony emerging from the Beltway word factory, you must realize that most legislation is written by Ouija board,
… with everyone pressing as hard as they can on the statutory planchette
… in hopes of shoving it more their way than someone else’s. With all that opposing isometric pressure, it’s a wonder any legislation is even coherent, let alone productive. While the legislation is being made, single-focus advocacy groups believe they are best served by making their points, over and over, louder and louder.
(Indeed, among the useful tests of whether an advocate has a public interest or merely an interest position is the extent to which the advocate shrilly repeats his or her talking points, as opposed to engaging substantively in the issues raised by others.)
In listening to the GSE reform debate, therefore, it’s critical to distinguish:
- Those who know they have control. They tend to say little until the endgame. (Chairmen Baker and Oxley in the House, and Shelby and Allard in Senate, are in this position.)
- Those who think they have control, or who have some control. They tend to lay down markers, stake out particular positions or areas of expertise. (Congressman Frank on affordability, and the White House on safety and soundness, have adopted this view.)
- Those who have no control, but who wish to appear to be influencing matters. They are fountains of ideas, position papers, sign-on letters, and otherwise. (Virtually all the trade associations are in this posture.)
The alert reader will notice that nowhere in this list have I placed the GSEs themselves. That’s because their position is very curious, and a-historical. Until recently, the GSEs had tremendous leverage, so much that their position was seldom questioned, let alone assailed. But with the continuing spiral of embarrassing revelations (posting archive here), the GSEs appear to have lost the moral swagger that formerly characterized their testimony and proposals (it’s hard to hold the high ground when you fear that at any moment, another shoe may drop):
and are adopting a strategy of meek contrition. That’s an excellent hypermodernist strategy for the opening, since it invites the stakeholders to occupy the center and become over-extended. The GSEs will be there at the endgame.
