Monday, September 29, 2008
Circa 2003 - the New York Times
It would be hard to argue that no one saw this financial crisis coming.
Clearly, our elected officials, for political reasons, didn't do anything at all to prevent it.
Now, of course, they are once again scrambling to "save" us from their disastrous malfeasance, while, at the same time, shifting the blame away from themselves.
"Throw the bums out!" is my sentiment...
Clearly, our elected officials, for political reasons, didn't do anything at all to prevent it.
Now, of course, they are once again scrambling to "save" us from their disastrous malfeasance, while, at the same time, shifting the blame away from themselves.
"Throw the bums out!" is my sentiment...
On the PowerLine Blog, John Hinderaker reminds us of some history:
"2003, that is, when the New York Times ran this article on proposed reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac:
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.
'The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.
The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken.'"
