According to this article by Representative Ron Paul, one of a tiny number of politicians who still take the Constitution seriously, Congress will soon pass the “Zero Downpayment Act.” The ZDA creates a new federal program that will enable people to buy houses with federally-insured mortgaged — and no downpayment.
This is another of those feel good programs that politicians love to pass because they can crow about their “compassion.” The results will be counterproductive, Rep. Paul argues, but even if that weren’t the case, there is no Constitutional authority for Congress to interfere in the housing market. But guess what — the argument that a bill is unconstitutional is probably the one least likely to make any difference in Washington, with members of either party.
A few years ago, the writer Jonathan Rauch made the case for what he called “enlightened defeatism” with regard to the federal leviathan. That was before the current Republican control over both chambers in Congress and the White House. I think that the growth of federal spending since 2001 make Rauch’s case almost impregnable.
