Once again the Republicans come through for us, intervening in the economy even though they don’t believe in intervention. “Senate Republicans circulated a plan to cut the cost of mortgages by expanding the government’s role in the industry. . . . Officials said the GOP was coalescing behind a proposal designed to give banks an incentive to make loans at rates currently estimated at 4 percent to 4.5 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized by the federal government in September, would be required to purchase the mortgages once banks made them.”

Why, you might ask, is the GOP doing this? The answer is that they want to be like the Messiah: “Republicans . . . said Monday that they were truer to Obama’s spirit than congressional Democrats were. . . .” Good thing we have the two-party system to present us with a real choice!

Finally, as noted at the outset, fear not that the GOP is doing any of this because they’re believers in big government. The AP reporter dutifully notes: “Republicans generally dislike government intervention in the workings of the private marketplace, but their opposition has eroded in recent months as the crisis in the financial industry and economy has deepened.”