I understand your point.
But the GOP was faced with two choices:
a. Do the right thing for the country...and be pilloried by the press and the Democrats.
b. Or do nothing...only to have the economy collapse...and be pilloried by the press and the Democrats.
What, exactly, did McCain, Bush & Company gain by not rocking the boat?
Being passive and non-confrontational has failed to gain the party any credit. And, at the same time, the entire country has had to pay a terrible price.
Perhaps, it's time to try something else -- in the hope of arriving at a different result: To stand firmly on principle and fight for what's best.
Perhaps the right thing was NOT to take unilateral action. Bush tried to get the Democrats to vote with the GOP for reform because at least some form of bipartisanship (even token) really often is the only way to achieve lasting reform. That's one huge reason why Obamacare is crashing...it was unilateral.
If the GOP had gone unilateral on the subprimes, the MSM rhetoric would have been that the GOP were "dictators" and "racists" and we would have had a worse rout than we had '08. We'd likely still today have Dem House control and Obama would have gotten cap and trade, gun control, guananamo closed, etc. etc. etc.
Being passive and non-confrontational has failed to gain the party any credit
It's not about passivity. It's about trying to keep the country from being too divided because then you have Civil War.