Not with a bang but a whimper

This is how you lose liberty. If an FBI agent looks at a terrorist's library records or Larry Flint has to pay additional postage for child pornography over 12 ounces, there will be PBS specials and cover stories in the weeklies. And I'm fine with that, of course. If we want to establish an absolutist, zero-tolerance appreciation for our liberties, you can sign me up.

What chaps my hide is that these brave defenders are nowhere to be found when our First Amendment rights to political speech are threatened by McCain-Feingold, Second Amendment rights completely stripped by gun legislation, or our sacred Fifth Amendment right to contract is decimated by a do-gooder Congress. The WSJ Ed Page has an important piece today discussing "cramdowns" or allowing bankruptcy judges to change the terms of mortgage contracts. On one hand, this is a very bad idea:

[Sixteen House Democrats who opposed a similar bill] realized that the consequences would fall hardest on those hoping to buy a home, if markets logically respond by setting mortgage interest rates closer to those on, for example, auto loans or credit cards. A bankruptcy judge is now free to reduce amounts owed on many types of consumer debt. For mortgages, the iron-clad requirement to pay off the loan or lose the house is precisely to encourage lower rates on a less risky investment.

Defending the right to contract has a bad history because it was an effective legal defense of slavery and its use in Lochner v. New York preventing labor ordinances. But we didn't stop using airplanes because of 9/11. It is not only a fundamental right, it is also the foundation of our innovation and prosperity.

The incoming class will happily shred (I'm auditioning for a Kos slot) this right for cheap political gain. Not many people will pay attention. But, pretty soon, when you have to be a "Friend of Angelo" to get a loan, we will find that a key instrument that allowed us to live a free life (cf. Martini in "It's a Wonderful Life") is gone.

111th Congress Election Posted by John Kranz at January 12, 2009 11:32 AM