Because they are knee deep in it, too.
Prior to HERA, the Secretary of HUD was the mission regulator for the GSEs, with oversight authority to ensure that both GSEs complied with the public purposes set forth in their charters. HUD had general regulatory authority for oversight responsibilities, which included establishing housing goals; monitoring and enforcing compliance with housing goals; new program approval; collecting loan-level data from the GSEs on their mortgage purchase activities; making available to the public a database on non-proprietary GSE loan purchase data; and ensuring GSE compliance with fair lending requirements.From here.
Next.....
But by 2004, when HUD next revised the goals, Freddie and Fannie's purchases of subprime-backed securities had risen tenfold. Foreclosure rates also were rising.
That year, President Bush's HUD ratcheted up the main affordable-housing goal over the next four years, from 50 percent to 56 percent. John C. Weicher, then an assistant HUD secretary, said the institutions lagged behind even the private market and "must do more."
Bush increased the percentage of sub prime lending required from Fannie and Freddie "each (Clinton and Bush) trying to lay claim to a record percentage of homeowners" here)
There is no question that the problems were created by HUD. Oh, by the way the HUD Secretaries under Bush? Mel Martinez and Alphonso Jackson. Both Bush cronies.
Maybe this is why Bush is pushing just as hard as the dems in using your and my money to bail out Fannie and Freddie.
Go to this thread and read the links.
When HUD released the next set of goals in 2004, it reported that after Cuomo's previous edict, there had been a sudden spurt of GSE subprime investment, "partly in response to higher affordable-housing goals set by HUD in 2000." Fannie had gone from $1.2 billion in subprime-mortgage and securities purchases in 2000 to $9.2 billion in 2001 and $15 billion in 2002. Freddie's numbers were murkier, but clearly also on the rise. In 2003 alone, the two bought $81 billion in subprime securities—which also count against the goals.
That was during Martinez's tenure.
Martinez's successor, Alphonso Jackson, ended up being just as scandalous by receiving sub rate loans from Countrywide.
The whole department appears to be incestuous. Also, note that Martinez and Jackson are both minorities. Did that play a role in their relaxing the loan requirements for Fannie and Freddie? They were obviously put there to appease the minority factions of the U.S.
The whole HUD is corrupt, in my opinion. It's intent has been corrupted by years of abuse and lack of oversight.
I realize a lot of people are trying to deflect blame from Bush but a lot of this stuff happened on his watch under Martinez and Jackson. While I don't expect Bush to be able to monitor every facet of the U.S. govt., he kept putting cronies in charge. They either abused their standing with him or he was too naive to see what they were doing.
Absolutely true, although I do believe more of the blame lay at the feet of the Dems, but it doesn't much matter now. The only comfort I find in all of this is that even the liberal press is going to feel the pain if/when it really hits the fan.
Coincidentally, my husband had I just last week had a meeting with our financial adviser that was scheduled well in advance of the latest mess. Fortunately our bottom line looked good—at the moment anyway. I came right out and asked him if the worst case scenario plays out (and he certainly didn't rule that out), what should we do. And he looked us in the eye and in a very somber tone of voice he said “stick together”.
The best we as individuals can do now is to get out of debt as much as possible and hang on because its going to be a bumpy ride.