Good grief.
You asked above 'what about the $5 trillion that could go bad' and that number could not be futher from the truth. $5 billion is the face value of the notes they've underwritten, all of them. CNN, in their typical way, said it could be in the hundreds of BILLIONS, but even that number is misleading. This is a fed driven pile of writedowns causing many of the capital requirements. While default levels are high, they are still manageable in light of the capital bases of the two companies.
What in the world can the president do to stop exuberance in the market? Especially in housing, when the libs at Fannie and Freddie view it as their function on earth to provide housing, the basis of wealth in their view, to everyone, regardless of the borrowers' wherewithal. The day the president sticks his head into that mess is the day that we need a new one.
Bash Bush for the uncontrolled spending (but don't leave out the congress) and for the Iraq war (though the jury's still out for those not wrapped into the 24 hr news cycle). But what do you know of US energy policy and how might that have helped? If you're going to suggest that he should have helped develop something else, you're deranged and if you think he should have made us less dependent upon foreign oil, he's in the process.
