Sen. John McCain this morning said “greedy” Wall Street investors are partly to blame for what he said is probably an economic recession the nation is now suffering.

“There has to be a modification of the greedy behavior of some of these people,” he said, using the word “greedy” repeatedly in remarks to the Associated Press annual meeting at the Washington Convention Center today.

By “modification” McCain means that he wants to replace the greed of investors, whose rational self-interest motivates them to maximize wealth, with the greed of politicians and government bureaucrats, whose greed motivates them to create as much economic destruction as possible, in the attempt to maximize their political prestige and power. Such economic destruction, in the form of the Federal Reserve’s manipulation of interest rates and Congress’ hampering of markets is precisely what is responsible for the economic recession McCain would like to see happen. Honest businessmen thrive in a booming market – it takes an economic crisis (real or invented) for political crooks like McCain to justify the expansion of political power.