White House philosophy stoked mortgage bonfire

[WA_Vol]

Here's another report showing that the Bush admin recognized a threat and tried to increase regulation but those efforts were blocked by Congress (Dems).

YouTube - Timeline shows Bush, McCain warning Dems of financial mess

I'm not saying Bush is with out fault but to leave Congress, Freddie and Fannie, the Fed, consumers and lenders out is missing a big part of the story.

Seems odd that congress blocked Bush "reforms" in 01-03 according to that news article, when the Republicans controlled congress then?

 

[MG1968]

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - New York Times

who was the head of Fannie Mae in 1999? Franklin Raines.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

from Noel Sheppard's rebuttal to the NYT's garbage: New York Times Blames Housing and Financial Crisis on Bush | NewsBusters.org

Nor did they have any space to apprise readers of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. This legislation, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and signed into law by Clinton in November 1999, removed the last vestiges of the Depression era Glass-Steagall Act thereby allowing banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies to offer exactly the same services.

This deregulation is the key to our current financial crisis, but was totally ignored in this Times piece.

So, too, was the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000 which, amongst other things, deregulated lending derivatives thereby making it possible for banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies to issue and trade credit default swaps without any government oversight.

As NewsBusters readers are highly aware, it is in fact credit default swaps which are at the heart of our current crisis -- the so-called "toxic paper" you've heard so much about during Congressional hearings the past few months.

Yet, the Times chose to not address credit default swaps in this almost 5000-word piece. And, although the word "derivatives" was mentioned twice, the authors opted not to mention the Act which deregulated them OR the president -- Clinton! -- who signed that legislation into law.

It is a categorical and indisputable fact that the deregulation at the heart of our current crisis was all signed into law before George W. Bush became president. Yet, the Times disingenuously chose not to share that with its readers. (Please see Update II at end of post addressing another huge event in 2000 the Times chose not to share with its readers.)

 

[WA_Vol]

oop, you got us there. we can forget about everything that happened during the Carter administration and later on in the Clinton administration.

btw, it would be nice if you linked to the article you're quoting.

Let me make sure I understand this.

So the Clinton Administration is responsible for the housing crisis in 08 when Clinton worked with a Republican controlled Congress his entire administration? So you don't blame President Bush, but you do blame President Clinton for the current housing mess?

 

[MG1968]

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

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.

''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.''

 

[MG1968]

Let me make sure I understand this.

So the Clinton Administration is responsible for the housing crisis in 08 when the the Republicans controlled congress under the Clinton Administration? So you don't blame President Bush, but you do blame President Clinton for the current housing mess?

that sums it up nicely.

some day you might wake up and face that same reality.

I will also wait to see if you possess the intellectual honesty to avoid blaming Bush for everything that goes wrong during the Obama administration.

 

[WA_Vol]

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - New York Times

who was the head of Fannie Mae in 1999? Franklin Raines.



from Noel Sheppard's rebuttal to the NYT's garbage: New York Times Blames Housing and Financial Crisis on Bush | NewsBusters.org

Franklin wrote an report warning that Fannie and Fred were on the verge of collapse in 03 and Bush fired him for not withdrawing it! Look at what I quoted from that article.

 

[WA_Vol]

that sums it up nicely.

some day you might wake up and face that same reality.

I will also wait to see if you possess the intellectual honesty to avoid blaming Bush for everything that goes wrong during the Obama administration.

Your so ridiculous.

You won't blame Bush you blame Congress instead, when he had a Republican Congress for the first half his adminstration. Then you turn around and blame Clinton who had a Republican Congress his entire Presidency.

 

[MG1968]

Franklin wrote an report warning that Fannie and Fred were on the verge of collapse in 03 and Bush fired him for not withdrawing it! Look at what I quoted from that article.

Franklin who? you mean Armando Falcon?

you did know that Falcon was nominated by Bill Clinton in 1999 and was once the top aide to Henry Gonzalez, a Texas democrat?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/business/06fannie.html?_r=1

Mr. Falcon was a little-known Washington lawyer and former Congressional aide when he was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999 to head a small agency, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, known as Ofheo. He and his agency were often the target of political attacks by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and were ridiculed by lawmakers who viewed the office as ill-equipped to oversee such large companies.

Perhaps the lowest point in his tenure came in 2003, when his agency declared that Freddie Mac had effective auditing and internal controls shortly before the company disclosed that shortcomings in its accounting had caused it to misstate earnings by billions of dollars over several years.

 

[MG1968]

Your so ridiculous.

You won't blame Bush you blame Congress instead, when he had a Republican Congress for the first half his adminstration. Then you turn around and blame Clinton who had a Republican Congress his entire Presidency.

actually, I've said that there's plenty of blame to go around. You, however, have your head stuck deeply in the sand and your irrational hatred of Bush has you believing that everything that has gone wrong is a direct result of his being born.

btw, since you're historically impaired, Clinton had a democrat led Congress for 2 years.

 

[WA_Vol]

actually, I've said that there's plenty of blame to go around. You, however, have your head stuck deeply in the sand and your irrational hatred of Bush has you believing that everything that has gone wrong is a direct result of his being born.

btw, since you're historically impaired, Clinton had a democrat led Congress for 2 years.

Republicans controlled Congress from 94-06 and you want to blame Congress primarily for the housing mess. Then why dont you blame the party that held control of Congress the longest, the Republicans?

 

[MG1968]

Republicans controlled Congress from 94-06 and you want to blame Congress primarily for the housing mess. Then why dont you blame the party that held control of Congress the longest, the Republicans?

what more can I say than, "there's plenty of blame to go around"? How can you, out of one side of your mouth, blame Bush, but out of the other side remain silent about the efforts of Barney Frank to stop any legislative reform? Republican majorities weren't rock solid, so don't blather about their control of congress.

why can't you own up to the historical events starting with passage of the Community Reinvestment Act that led to the housing crisis?

 

[WA_Vol]

what more can I say than, "there's plenty of blame to go around"? How can you, out of one side of your mouth, blame Bush, but out of the other side remain silent about the efforts of Barney Frank to stop any legislative reform? Republican majorities weren't rock solid, so don't blather about their control of congress.

why can't you own up to the historical events starting with passage of the Community Reinvestment Act that led to the housing crisis?

Plenty of blame to go around is a cop out. The Republicans have controlled Congress 12 of the last 14 years, and the white house the last 8. They were the ones in power and in control.

 

[GAVol]

Plenty of blame to go around is a cop out. The Republicans have controlled Congress 12 of the last 14 years, and the white house the last 8. They were the ones in power and in control.

Then what was the point of you starting a poll?

 

[MG1968]

Plenty of blame to go around is a cop out. The Republicans have controlled Congress 12 of the last 14 years, and the white house the last 8. They were the ones in power and in control.

great, when the economy is driven further into the dust during 2009, I hope you have the intellectual honesty to not lay blame on the previous administration.

You're too smart to have such a myopic view of history, but that's your prerogative. Just don't forget that the Democrats have had control of Congress since 2006, and their majorities increased in 2008. Name one piece of legislation sponsored by Barney Frank or Chris Dodd that was intended to reign in Fannie and Freddie.

 

[dickens821]

Then what was the point of you starting a poll?

To try and look objective.

 

[volinbham]

Seems odd that congress blocked Bush "reforms" in 01-03 according to that news article, when the Republicans controlled congress then?

I don't make the news, I just report it.

If you don't believe Congress had a major role in this I can't change your mind. Continue to blame it all on Bush.

 

[WA_Vol]

Then what was the point of you starting a poll?

Don't all polls do the same thing? Find out what the majority thinks on a subject?

 

[WA_Vol]

I don't make the news, I just report it.

If you don't believe Congress had a major role in this I can't change your mind. Continue to blame it all on Bush.

I don't dispute Congress had a role, what I dispute is that the Republicans in Congress aren't at fault.

They had control of Congress in 01 and 03 when "supposedly" Bush tried to push reforms through according to your YouTube link. How often does a Republican Congress not back a Republican President. Use your head, that was a garbage story.

It makes you look biased when you try to blame the democrats for this mess. The republicans controlled Congress from 94-06 and the White House from 01-08 and you want to lay this on the democrats? They haven't had the power to be responsible for this.

 

[JTrainDavis]

Forgive me if i repeat something already posted, but i seem to recall hearing that Congress, during the Clinton years, threatened to investigate the lenders on grounds of racism if their loan approval rates didn't show more "equal opportunity".

This begat the flex-rate lending to where those who weren't qualified could find a way to get a mortgage, on a limited scale, and it simply expanded out of control beyond that point.

 

[JTrainDavis]

Continue to blame it all on Bush.

I put the over/under in years that the left continues to blame everything gone wrong on Bush at 6.5

 

[OrangeYankee]

I primarily put blame on congress and here's why: Bush did try to get something going in '03, and while the Senate was at a stale mate (you truly don't have a majority in the Senate until 60) congress was led by Republicans. And as typical of the Republicans since around 96-98, they were totally spineless and cowardly and wouldn't stand up to Frank et al and backed away from it. Yes, pointing at Dodd and Frank specifically for blocking any desperately needed change is more than accurate, and it absolutely floors me that those two along with most of the CEO's in the finance industry aren't doing the perp walk. With that said, ultimately the ball is in the courts of the people who had the majority to put those clowns in their place at the time and that did not happen. Instead they cowered in fear and tucked tail and ran because the Media, who everyone with half a brain cell knows they are mostly in bed with Left side of things in this country, might print/say something bad about them.

This is why the Republicans had their collective asses handed to them in '06 and '08. They absolutely refuse to stand for anything, and I honestly think Bush has been beat down so much, with absolutely no help at all from his supposed colleagues he's finally thrown in the towel as well. (See McCain's pathetic excuse for a campaign) His second term has been a complete disaster, I find it hugely ironic that while the country is under a "conservative's" watch that the Financial industry and dang near the auto industry has effectively been socialized, the largest entitlement program was introduced in the drug program, he spends like a drunken sailor in Bangkok causing huge deficits, and absolutely refusing to communicate at all to the people.

 

[OrangeYankee]

And that article linked makes me so anxious for Jan 21st. A Volcano would erupt and I guarantee you they would find a way to tie it Bush. He is the Media's boogey man, and they probably threaten the young ones in their lives that the Bush will jump out of the closet and get them if they don't behave. They have their man now, and honestly to me it just doesn't make a difference any more who is in charge, so I'm grabbing the popcorn and sitting back and watching for the next two years +.

 

[GAVol]

It makes you look biased when you try to blame the democrats for this mess.

Anybody looking to oversimplify this set of economic circumstances and saddle a particular party with the blame is biased.

 

[GAVol]

Don't all polls do the same thing? Find out what the majority thinks on a subject?

Just wondering what the point is of starting a poll where you never intend to acknowledge the results.

 

[WA_Vol]

I primarily put blame on congress and here's why: Bush did try to get something going in '03, and while the Senate was at a stale mate (you truly don't have a majority in the Senate until 60) congress was led by Republicans. And as typical of the Republicans since around 96-98, they were totally spineless and cowardly and wouldn't stand up to Frank et al and backed away from it. Yes, pointing at Dodd and Frank specifically for blocking any desperately needed change is more than accurate, and it absolutely floors me that those two along with most of the CEO's in the finance industry aren't doing the perp walk. With that said, ultimately the ball is in the courts of the people who had the majority to put those clowns in their place at the time and that did not happen. Instead they cowered in fear and tucked tail and ran because the Media, who everyone with half a brain cell knows they are mostly in bed with Left side of things in this country, might print/say something bad about them.

I agree with most of what you said there.

However Bush lost the support of the people when he went into Iraq. Bush let this housing mess go to the back burner. His whole administration was focused on fighting a war on the other side of the globe while ignoring the problems at home until it was too late.