The fools can't help it

Sen. Dick Durbin is nominated for the Dim Bulb of the Year award. When Congress was debating the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, he's the one who insisted on an amendment to limit what banks can charge merchants for debit card trnasactions. Critics warned at the time that banks would merely find another way to make up the difference, probably at the expense of consumers. And guess what? Think of it as "the Durbin fee" if you end up being one of the debit card users who has to pay a yearly fee for the privilege:

Congress set the cap not because it understands the costs and risks involved in issuing debit cards to consumers, but because they thought they knew better than the competitive market what constituted a “fair” price.  Until Congress intervened, retailers paid the costs of the debit cards, which made sense since it made it a lot more convenient for their customers to make purchases.  It also all but eliminated the use of checks at retail stores, which greatly reduced the risk that retailers had to make in parting with services or goods. That made debit cards a good deal for retailers, and the reduced risks kept consumers from paying more at the register.

Now, however, Congress has forced banks to shift a good portion of those costs back to the consumers instead.  Every bank will have to make that adjustment, since none of them are in business to lose money, and their stockholders expect the best return possible on their investment.  But for some reason, Durbin still doesn't understand how a P&L statement works.

Government insists on making a change it hasn't thought through, then is shocked -- shocked, I tell you, shocked and horrified! -- when the unintended consequences obvious to everyone but the government start rolling in. This is especially true when members of Congress start fine-tuning the marketplace, which they cannot begin to fathom.

Alas, this isn't my evil-government outrage of the day, because it will merely add to the cost of everything. Government intereention can also be deadly:

Primatene Mist has been used for years to treat mild asthma sysmptoms. It's the only over-the-counter asthma inhaler sold in the United States, at pharmacies like Walgreen's and CVS, which have locations in Huntsville.

The FDA released information Thursday reminding asthma sufferers that, starting January 1, 2012, the mist will no longer be available in the U.S. It is part of a government phase-out of epinephrine inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons. CFCs are molecules that demolish the ozone layer.

The FDA encourages Primatene Mist users to see a health care professional now to switch to another asthma medicine before their inhaler is eliminated.

This is personal for me, so forgive me if it turns my crank a little. I already use the more expensive prescription inhaler, so this shouldn't affect me. But tens of thousands of sufferers are now going to have to figure out how to pay more, or they'll do without. "Mild" asthma symptoms can become severe ones pretty quickly -- one of my friends went on a job interview for a newspaper in New Jersey a few years ago and died in his motel room because he couldn't catch his breath. This is what those save-the-planet clowns in Washington are messing with, and I wouldn't shed a tear if a few of them were rounded up and at least wounded a little.

Save the planet! Save it for what