Wednesday, September 17, 2008

How Washington Failed to Rein In Fannie, Freddie

A good read.

"On the other side stood Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who said the companies served a public purpose. They were in the business of lowering the price of mortgage loans."

"In the Senate, Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) added an amendment giving Congress the ability to block receivership, weakening that bill to the point where the White House would no longer support it. Bennett's second-largest contributor that year was Fannie Mae; his son was then the deputy director of Fannie's regional office in Utah."

On MSNBC, Andera Tantros, said in 2005 Senate Democrats blocked a vote (you need 60 votes for passage) for a strong independent regulator.

Here is an article on the bill the passed the House.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/27/business/overhaul.php

4 comments:

MsAnthrope said...

"Facts are this...

Republican President past 8 years, Republican Majority 6 out of 8 years. Democratic Majority 2 out of 8 years. The mess that the United States is in did not just occur in the last 2 years."
"Also why does everyone forget Bush is still president with the veto pen. You remember the one that was extremely slow when the Republicans were spending us into the ground. Strangely it's moving pretty quick now I notice. Odd isn't it?"

Common Sense Joe said...

Problem is, Democrats had the power of filibuster in all the years in the Senate. Also, shortly after Bush was elected (May 2001), Jeffords left the GOP and the Democrats gained control. So the Democrats have to take a lot of he blame too.

MsAnthrope said...

The filibuster doesn't cover everything.
"Rules guaranteeing up-or-down majority votes and abolishing the filibuster in various contexts are commonplace in modern Congresses as well. In fact, there are at least 26 laws on the books today abrogating the filibuster. For example:

You cannot filibuster a federal budget resolution (Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974).
You cannot filibuster a resolution authorizing the use of force (War Powers Resolution).
You cannot filibuster international trade agreements (Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002).
And as the minority leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), well knows, you cannot filibuster legislation under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982."

Common Sense Joe said...

Yes, but you can filibuster oversight legislation. FYI, Raines is one of Obama top two economic advisers.


Jim Johnson, who is currently Barack Obama's economic advisor, was not only CEO and Vice Chairman of Fannie Me, he was also a managing director at Lehman Brothers.