Barney Frank has been all over the airwaves this week with a clear and—we never thought we’d say this—perfectly sound message about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: “They should be abolished.”
Well, praise be. Two years ago next month, then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson put the two government-sponsored mortgage-finance giants into conservatorship, and Congressman Frank declared himself pleased that there was a good chance, according to government bean-counters, that the rescue wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. Also at the time, Mr. Frank scoffed at the Bush Administration’s view that Fan and Fred should be wound down, saying it would never happen. One and a half trillion dimes ($149 billion) later, Mr. Frank appears to have seen the light.
Recall that in 2007 Mr. Frank had complained that the reason Fannie and Freddie hadn’t been reformed earlier was “the insistence of some economic conservative fundamentalists in the Bush Administration who, to be honest, don’t think there should be a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac.” Welcome aboard, Barney.
In another sign that he’s an avid reader of these columns, Mr. Frank even told Fox Business, “If we want to subsidize housing then we could do it upfront and let the budget be clear about that.” That is certainly a more honest way to subsidize housing and makes us think we don’t write in vain.
This is nice, but Captain Ed at Hot Air says we shouldn’t forget the history. He is of course correct (bold is mine):
That’s … a sea change for Frank. While he nearly dislocates his shoulder attempting to pat his own back by claiming that he has said this all along, it’s simply not true. Frank, in his role on the House Financial Services Committee, played a huge part in creating and maintaining the government intervention that severely distorted the lending markets. Whether or not he ever uttered a comment along the way about overdoing home ownership, Frank’s actions helped to create and maintain those policies, and he defended them repeatedly over the last twelve years.
… Just last year, Frank and his allies were busily claiming that the free market caused the collapse, and that only government intervention could restore American prosperity. Eighteen months into the Obama administration, Frank now wants to sound like a born-again acolyte of Adam Smith, or at least as close as Frank can approximate such a pose.
My theory: Barney “I Really Like the Free Market” Frank is frightened that Scott Bielat actually has a shot at pulling off the supposedly unthinkable
BizzyBlog
And as most of us remember the democrats and Barney Franks continual l "defense of Fannie/Freddie"--here it is:
Make certain to watch Bill Clinton blame democrats for ignoring Republican warnings of this financial collapse at the end of this video. There is no doubt that Fannie/Freddie are GROUND ZERO for this current economic collapse.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs]YouTube - Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis[/ame]
Well, praise be. Two years ago next month, then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson put the two government-sponsored mortgage-finance giants into conservatorship, and Congressman Frank declared himself pleased that there was a good chance, according to government bean-counters, that the rescue wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. Also at the time, Mr. Frank scoffed at the Bush Administration’s view that Fan and Fred should be wound down, saying it would never happen. One and a half trillion dimes ($149 billion) later, Mr. Frank appears to have seen the light.
Recall that in 2007 Mr. Frank had complained that the reason Fannie and Freddie hadn’t been reformed earlier was “the insistence of some economic conservative fundamentalists in the Bush Administration who, to be honest, don’t think there should be a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac.” Welcome aboard, Barney.
In another sign that he’s an avid reader of these columns, Mr. Frank even told Fox Business, “If we want to subsidize housing then we could do it upfront and let the budget be clear about that.” That is certainly a more honest way to subsidize housing and makes us think we don’t write in vain.
This is nice, but Captain Ed at Hot Air says we shouldn’t forget the history. He is of course correct (bold is mine):
That’s … a sea change for Frank. While he nearly dislocates his shoulder attempting to pat his own back by claiming that he has said this all along, it’s simply not true. Frank, in his role on the House Financial Services Committee, played a huge part in creating and maintaining the government intervention that severely distorted the lending markets. Whether or not he ever uttered a comment along the way about overdoing home ownership, Frank’s actions helped to create and maintain those policies, and he defended them repeatedly over the last twelve years.
… Just last year, Frank and his allies were busily claiming that the free market caused the collapse, and that only government intervention could restore American prosperity. Eighteen months into the Obama administration, Frank now wants to sound like a born-again acolyte of Adam Smith, or at least as close as Frank can approximate such a pose.
My theory: Barney “I Really Like the Free Market” Frank is frightened that Scott Bielat actually has a shot at pulling off the supposedly unthinkable
BizzyBlog
And as most of us remember the democrats and Barney Franks continual l "defense of Fannie/Freddie"--here it is:
Make certain to watch Bill Clinton blame democrats for ignoring Republican warnings of this financial collapse at the end of this video. There is no doubt that Fannie/Freddie are GROUND ZERO for this current economic collapse.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs]YouTube - Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis[/ame]
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