Posted by
GunnyG© on Thursday, July 09, 2009 7:46:03 AM
This puts the blame RIGHT WHERE IT BELONGS. On the Dummycrats.
EXCERPT: The CRA was originally passed in 1977 to prevent banks from engaging in “redlining” –refusing to lend to otherwise credit-worthy borrowers in lower-income neighborhoods. Until 1995, the legislation was largely ineffective because it was very broad in its directives to both banks and regulators. For example, while the legislation called for federally-regulated banks to meet “the credit needs of [their] entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods,” it also directed the regulators to “encourage” banks to achieve this goal. It went on to require regulators to “consider” any failure when banks seek approval from the government for actions such as mergers and acquisitions.17 It was not surprising that this expansive language was not effective in achieving compliance, as demonstrated by the relative infrequency of CRA enforcement actions against banks. However, in 1995, the Clinton Administration implemented a major regulatory reform of CRA which emphasized “performance-based evaluation.” The impact of this reform was that regulators would no longer rate banks based on their efforts to lend to customers using equitable procedures but rather on the volume of their lending.
THE VOLUME OF THEIR LENDING.
EXCERPT: President Clinton himself acknowledged his role in efforts to loosen mortgage lending standards when he admitted that “there was possible danger in his administration’s policy of pressuring Fannie Mae…to lower its credit standards for lower- and middle-income families seeking homes.”22 These accumulated government affordable housing policies, including the Clinton Strategy, trapped millions of Americans in mortgages they could not afford.
Government actions distorted the housing market, yet advocates of affordable housing policies, such as Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), have asserted that those who criticize these policies seek to place blame for the financial crisis solely on borrowers of modest means. This misses the mark entirely. In fact, responsibility for the erosion of mortgage lending standards, which began with government affordable housing policy, rests squarely on the policy makers who advocated these ill-conceived policies in the first place. Borrowers quite naturally responded to the incentives they were given, irrespective of their socioeconomic status, and risky lending spread to the wider mortgage market.
What happened to Republicans who TRIED to fix and reform Fannie and Freddie?
EXCERPT: When Congressman Jim Leach (R-IA) proposed assessing a fee on the GSEs to offset the federal subsidy they receive on their cost of borrowing, “it took just twelve hours for Fannie to blow the idea out of the water.” Fannie Mae also forced then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to “tone down” a report that was originally going to criticize the cozy relationship between the federal government and the GSEs.43 When Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) sought to increase regulation of the GSEs, Fannie Mae sent lobbyists to harass him in his Wisconsin congressional district, going so far as to call his constituents and accuse him of seeking to increase mortgage rates, generating 6,000 angry responses to his office. When Ryan transferred to a committee without direct oversight of the GSEs, Fannie CEO Raines sent him a “congratulatory” note. “He meant good riddance,” said Ryan. When Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) introduced legislation to end the GSEs’ unique exemption from SEC registration, he “had lobbyists literally barging into my room,” while Fannie CEO Raines reportedly called the lawmaker to ask, “What the hell have [you] done?” The GSEs retaliated by ending their home-buying forums in Shays’ congressional district in an attempt to hurt him politically. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who scheduled hearings on Freddie Mac’s use of improper accounting procedures in 2004, had his jurisdiction over the GSEs stripped by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), who assigned the task to Michael Oxley (R-OH), for whom Freddie Mac held at least 19 campaign fundraisers.
EVEN RAHMBUTT THE BALLERINA WAS INVOLVED!
For example, current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was appointed to the board of Freddie Mac by President Clinton in February 2000, where he served for only 14 months and in return received $320,000 in compensation. He also sold Freddie Mac stock worth between $100,001 and $250,000.
FOURTEEN MONTHS AND MADE 320 THOUSAND DOLLARS AND SOLD STOCK? He worked for fourteen months and made between 420 and 570 THOUSAND DOLLARS? KINDA like being in the Senate 140 DAYS and running for POTUS.
BTW, did the Gunny mention that BJ BUBBA ALSO appointed lobbyist and golfing partner James Free and former aide Harold Ickes to the Freddie Mac board? Did the Gunny mention that Bush 43 STOPPED this practice?
Consider it mentioned.
Business as usual for the corrupt Dhimmicrats.
HAT TIP TO THE CRAWFISH