“The era of big government is over.” Remember when Bill Clinton said that following the 1994 election when Republicans won control of Congress? In light of the proposed $700 billion bailout of the mortgage industry, it is safe to say that the era of big government is far from over.

Given all of the warning signs of what easy money and little accountability could produce, people who might have actually stopped this debacle ignored the signs. The reason? They wanted to be able to brag about how their policies increased housing starts and home ownership. Democrats like to blame the Bush administration, but they were sending warning signals from the time they took office in 2001. The regulators (and that word is a joke) ignored them. People got rich, including leading members of Congress and one presidential candidate. Can you guess which one?

Congress wants to rush this through by the end of the week so they can go campaign. They ought to be thrown out and term limits mandated. Real people don’t live this way, but no one ever accused Congress of being real. It’s disgusting and voters ought to punish the guilty.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.