Friday, December 17, 2010
On Blaming the Republicans Solely For the Financial Meltdown Part 6
According to the New York Times (yet another publication that's not exactly hostile to Democrats), in 2003, "Bush proposed the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago." The paper also went on to say that "A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors and critics have said that Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates."................................................................................................What was the Democratic response to Bush's proposal? Barney Frank's was simply to state that "These two entities - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are NOT (my emphasis) facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." Congressman Watt from North Carolina added that, " 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."..................................................................................................And on and on it dribbled - partisans like Maxine Waters and Gregory Meek saying that everything was AOK at Fannie and Freddie. Hell, folks, you even had Lacy Clay say that the proceedings were themselves a "Political lynching of Franklin Raines"......................................................................................................Look, folks, if Mr. Frank finally came to his senses and eventually proposed a meaningful compromise, and if in fact the Republicans rebuffed him, then, yes, shame on those very same Republicans. I NEVER said that the Republicans weren't culpable. But to constantly spin for a bunch of folks who attempted to turn large parts of the banking industry into more or less frigging social work, THAT I CANNOT COMPREHEND.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Will said... if Mr. Frank finally came to his senses and eventually proposed a meaningful compromise, and if in fact the Republicans rebuffed him...
*if* bush proposed any legislation and *if* the Congress was in agreement with him that something needed to be done regarding Fannie and Freddie... then what the hell stopped the Congress from acting on his proposition??
I'm asking myself *if* you're aware the Republicans controlled both houses during this period of time...
Will said... I NEVER said that the Republicans weren't culpable.
Yet you haven't mentioned exactly HOW they are culpable. Is that up next? If I recall correctly, you said the blame was 80-20, so I'm expecting that next you're going to explain how the Republicans are culpable -- in Parts 7 through 24.
For me this just another example of little shits all wanting to protect and expand their little domains.
You answered the question yourself, wd. Mr. Bush was the President and he had a Republican majority in both houses. He obviously didn't show an adequate amount of leadership to move the matter forward. I also believe that he (for a while at least) played some footsy with, not just these entities but with Wall Street in general. The buck - it always stops with the president.......Succinct and to the point as always, double b. I at least gotta give the Dems some credit for their intentions. At least they were looking out (albeit recklessly) for the little guy and not those idiot Wall Street bankers.
Post a Comment