President Obama won't cut himself a break. After pursuing an overreaching health-insurance debate that bogged down the economic recovery, he tries to redeem himself by opening fire on the banks, bogging down recovery. His attack also lands just as empirical reality is revising first judgments about what happened and why.

Next week the supposedly nonpolitical Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will spend two days consulting with academic experts. The panel should revisit a question that once roiled the higher strata of the blogosphere: Were the banks insolvent or were they victims of a liquidity panic?

Notice today that nearly all the guarantees and loans advanced to the banks have been returned with a profit to taxpayers. Notice that TARP functions now mainly as a whip to punish bankers for losses that are actually being incurred on behalf of the UAW, Fannie and Freddie, and delinquent homeowners. More here.