Bush Attempted to Fix Fannie and Freddie... in 2003

NYT Article

I'm not a Bush-lover, but it sures looks like he was right about this one.

 

Was right? What do you mean WAS right? Him and his GOP cronies from 2000-2006 deregulated the industry and it bit them in the ass. What WAS he right about.

The Democrats WERE right about this. We warned this would happen. In fact, State Attorney Generals tried to fight the deregulations and they were overrided by the Federal Government. So much for letting states decide.

Please Mr Bush, do not do anything else. You have done enough. Just go on vacation. Every day of vacation is a new record for the most vacation days ever by a president.

This looks a lot like the government is going to regulate the industry. If that is so, then the DEMOCRATS were right.

 

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Unfortunately the link doesn't work for me so it's pretty hard to tell what happened to this recommendation.

 

The link does not work for me....is it only me?


*oh, just saw it did not work for dillo either....

 

You do a huge disservice to informed democrats with your response.

Did you even read the article? Here is an excerpt:

Democrats were AGAINST tighter regulations in this instance, despite your partisan rhetoric. If you can't see that, you obviously can't wrap your mind around reality.

 

Apologies - here's the link:

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - New York Times

 

From the story:

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

 

Democrats have absolutely no leg to stand on w/respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and its failure. Congressional democrats for years have pushed for the expansion of lending to less credit-worthy individuals (subprime loans), having a direct impact on the long term viability of Fannie and Freddie. Democrats were absolutely against tighter regulations because they wanted lending to be expanded to everyone with a pulse.

You can go back and look at my missive on The Housing Bill and see the party votes on this issue.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/economy/56195-the-housing-bill.html

Brian

 

did representative oxley and senator shelby EVER bring up the bill to regulate more as bush suggested?

if so, did it fail or pass? i'm a little confused on this....?

 

The bill that came out of the Administration's proposals was the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, introduced in January of 2005.

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 (GovTrack.us)

The sponsor was Charles Hagel. It never came to a vote and was cleared from the books when the two-year session of Congress concluded.

McCain supported the bill (he was a co-sponsor), as did most (but notably not all) Republicans. Here is an excerpt from his floor address in May of 2006 ...

"I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation."

Here is the full text ... GovTrack: Senate Record: FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM... (109-s20060525-16)

Obama did not support the reform bill. Incidentally, Obama is #2 in money accepted from Fannie and Freddie lobbyists. Democrat Christopher Dodd (Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee) is #1. These totals are from 1989-2008. Yet, Obama has not been in office very long and is #2.

OpenSecrets | Update: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Lawmakers - Capital Eye

Not that I support any Fannie/Freddie legislation because I believe that the programs should not exist. But this should help clarify the political record for some of the partisan hacks on what is supposed to be an economics board.

Brian