Florida's Feeney Refuses to Pander

"This isn ' t a free market collapse," he says. "Most of this was caused by mismanagement of government."

Which leads naturally to Mr. Feeney ' s other theme, that today ' s rush to government action will make things worse. He voted against the housing bailout, using his "forgotten man" speech to redirect attention to the many responsible Americans who would have to pay for the mistakes of housing speculators and imprudent borrowers.

... Mr. Feeney says that even if he were spooked, he'd take the same course. "Demagoguery is good short-term politics, but terrible long-term policy -- and bad economic policy will ultimately catch up with you."