“Letting children bear the consequences of their risky behavior — what some parents call ‘tough love’ — is equally applicable [to] adults, and conservatives have made something of a fetish out of it. Months ago, when the president announced a paltry plan to help out a few of the millions of homeowners who got caught in the sub-prime loan mess, he reiterated the credo: ‘It’s not government’s job to bail out … those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could not afford.’ Days ago, when he endorsed the giant Fed bailout of Wall Street, the president signaled it was government’s job to bail out big bankers who had made decisions to buy and sell risky securities they knew (or should have known) they could not afford.” (03/26/08)