In recent years I've reported on some of the hardest hit markets in the U.S., from real estate to health insurance to retirement plans. In such time, I've seen cyclical paths to recovery, and I've always wondered where there's logic in feeding a crisis with another crisis.

Take the latest House bill from Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey. The Housing Recovery Act of 2011 would allow plan participants to tap into their accounts early without penalty, if they use it to purchase a foreclosed home.   

It's another way to help out the housing market, but I can't help but liken Posey's retirement plan bill to Obama's Cash for Clunkers in 2009. Both are government incentives used to stimulate stale markets, but neither were ever meant to be a panacea. And in reality, probably neither could remarkably sway the markets either way.