Jerry, I didn’t take Brooks to be blessing Obama’s housing policy. I took him to be arguing that right now, moral arguments about how certain government interventions reward the irresponsible are beside the point. If those interventions work to stabilize the economy, they should be pursued regardless of their seeming injustice. You may be right about Obama’s housing policy–I suspect that you are–but I think Brooks is right to say that effects matter more than desert right now.