February 17, 2009 11:40 PM UTC

Coffman: Lack of Regulation a Problem

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• by: Colorado Pols

After spewing the traditional Republican talking points about all the bad things contained in the stimulus package signed into law today by President Barack Obama (in Denver, no less), Republican freshman congressman Mike Coffman actually decided to turn on his own brain and stray away from the “free market will save us all” rhetoric.

From The Columbine Courier:

In a break from traditional Republican ideology, Coffman said a lack of regulation led to the current economic morass.

“The demise of this economy was really a failure of government to properly regulate the economy,” Coffman said. “We had these subprime loans infecting a lot of balance sheets. I don’t see the appropriate oversight there, and it eventually brought the economy down.”

The lack of discipline wasn’t limited to profit-seeking banks, Coffman said.

“Essentially, the problem was spending beyond our means,” the congressman said. “Too much easy money, too much easy credit, and spending beyond our means as individuals and collectively as a nation. I don’t know how, again, spending and borrowing is going to be the cure here. It’s a real concern.”

Coffman, of course, doesn’t have an answer of his own for what should have been done – specifically – to fix the economy. But at least he shows that he may be willing to break the party line on the talking points that really make no sense at all. Like pretending a lack of regulation wasn’t the problem, for example. Because Republicans need leaders who can sound reasonable, for a change.