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February 2, 2009
More From the NY Times Archives: W Tried to Stop Fannie and Freddie
The Gray Lady might want to do some scrubbing of her archives. Just as she predicted a decade ago that race-based mortgages would cause the government to have to bail out Fannie Mae, she let it slip back in 2003 that unlike the Dems, W was trying to do something about it:
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. …
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.
Unfornately the proposal…
would not repeal the significant government subsidies granted to the two companies. And it does not alter the implicit guarantee that Washington will bail the companies out if they run into financial difficulty; that perception enables them to issue debt at significantly lower rates than their competitors. Nor would it remove the companies' exemptions from taxes and antifraud provisions of federal securities laws.
But even limited efforts to reign in these government-sponsored enterprises were bitterly resisted by Democrats, who characteristically raised a smokescreen by bleating about "affordable housing":
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.''
The real reason Democrats defended Fannie and Freddie from regulation?
''The regulator has not only been outmanned, it has been outlobbied,'' said Representative Richard H. Baker, the Louisiana Republican who has proposed legislation similar to the administration proposal and who leads a subcommittee that oversees the companies.
This lobbying entailed paying off corrupt Democrats, prominently including Barney Fwank, Chris Clod, Hanoi John Kerry, Shrillary Rotten, and of course, Chairman Zero.
Nonetheless, future generations will be told by their history books that Republicans caused the economy to collapse.
On a tip from xantl.
Posted by Van Helsing at February 2, 2009 7:27 AM
Comments
First, thank god that that awful pic of Satan Pelosi off the top of the list. That was getting sickening to see. Of course, whenever her face makes ANY appearance its gut-wrenching.
Only fitting that the NYT get rid of anything that even comes close to supporting Bush.
Posted by: Cheesecake at February 2, 2009 7:50 AM
Race-based mortgages? I suppose it was all poor black people who were buying McMansions in the California exurbs and luxury condos in Phoenix and Miami (3 of the hardest hit housing demos during the bubble.) I suppose it was also ACORN that bullied Wall Street into running absurd leverage ratios and selling and re-selling mortgages as over-valued, over-inflated derivative products. If only we had stopped poor blacks and hispanics from buying homes, none of this would have ever happened... what a joke. And here's a quote from W, your alleged champion of fighting this made-up scourge:
"We can put light where there's darkness, and hope where there's despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home."
Posted by: Brad Shalis at February 2, 2009 9:18 AM
BRAD, the race card has no value here.
It was the NEW YORK TIMES that mentioned "race-based" loans (Which they were) back before Bush 2 even ran for office. Why are you suggesting that WE are at fault for repeating what a LIBERAL newspaper printed?
As for President Bush's quote, so what? He said "OWN" a home, not "BE UNABLE TO PAY YOUR DEBTS". Do you have a problem with that?
In any case, race quotas (Tokenism) started with CARTER in the seventies, back when Bush jr was a no body wondering how to spend the rest of his life.
Posted by: KHarn at February 2, 2009 11:18 AM
Oh, KHarn, how easily you defend and canvas such an obvious agenda under the guise of "freedom for all." Your sleight of hand and maneuvering would make the Church of Scientology proud.
Where is Moonbattery's post on the large amount of middle- to upper-middle-class white folks who overreached with their credit ratings to purchase 2nd and 3rd homes and rental properties? As someone who likes to be informed on all facets of a story, I would like that information as well. All one needs to do is look at the numbers - even the most conservative think tanks say that CRA-based and similarly targeted loans designed to stimulate minority investment in the housing sector were somewhere in the 20% range of total troubled mortgage-based assets. What about that other 70%+?
To imply that Fannie/Freddie purchasing securities derived from loans to poor minorities was that major, if not only, cause of the current financial crisis (which this post absolutely does) is 100% disinformation and grossly irresponsible. Unless you're catering to the delusional fears of racialist, reactionary conservatives.
Posted by: Brad Shalis at February 2, 2009 1:47 PM
"Brad Shalis at February 2, 2009 1:47 PM"
I told you, Brad, you can't play the race card here. In typical Liberal fashion, you avoid the issue and fling accusations. It is a FACT that WELFARE CHECKS were accepted as "income" according to FEDERAL MANDATES.
You just don't want to feel guilty about the world's problems, so all Liberals you attack people who face reality.
Posted by: KHarn at February 2, 2009 3:21 PM
Mr. Shalis, you seem to misunderstand the point of this website. It isn't about covering everything that goes on in the political world. There are other sites for that. Moonbattery covers the goofy crap that your dear, dear liberal buddies do on a daily basis to undermine the structure of the country.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 2, 2009 3:55 PM
"Nonetheless, future generations will be told by their history books that Republicans caused the economy to collapse."
THIS is why we must not let the lie go unchallenged! As a true liberal hero said "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it” - Joseph Goebbels
Posted by: TED at February 2, 2009 11:24 PM
