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

[TopGunna]

NYT Article

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt - is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

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

 

[sealybobo]

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.

 

[dilloduck]

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.

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago

.

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

 

[Care4all]

NYT Article



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

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


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

 

[TopGunna]

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

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

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

"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."

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

"I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing," Mr. Watt said.

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.

 

[TopGunna]

Apologies - here's the link:

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

 

[xsited1]

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.''

 

[gonegolfin]

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.

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

 

[Care4all]

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....?

 

[gonegolfin]

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

 

[gonegolfin]

And now a Bloomberg article today corroborating what I stated below ...

Bloomberg.com: News

This root cause of this mess is the Federal Reserve and our monetary system. This system must be taken out and shot. But both the Democrats and Republicans have contributed heavily to the current financial mess.

Brian

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

 

[Care4all]

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

repubs HAD THE MAJORITY in committee, WHY didn't they bring it to the floor for a VOTE? WHY?

i don't understand? a kazillion bills can be proposed but IF NEVER BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR for a vote, they are nothing but USELESS or a tool to politically SPIN...imho.....

or it could be the repubs were BOUGHT also?