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I guess we have to include Shelby among the "good guy" Republicans.

Senator Shelby vows to continue to press GSE reform in Senate

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) said that while the future of a bill passed by his committee recently to overhaul regulation of the housing GSEs “remains uncertain,” he vowed to “continue to press the issue of GSE reform in the Senate,” saying it’s clear that the present housing GSE regulators are “woefully inadequate.” Shelby added, “Fannie and Freddie, the second and fifth largest financial institutions in the United States, are too important to have a regulator with less power than the regulator of a small country bank.”
Shelby said, “It has been extremely difficult to create a consensus bill that will enjoy broad support among Republicans and Democrats, and is acceptable to the Administration.” He added, “The tight 12-9 vote on the committee demonstrated that even with the expansive affordable housing mandates and watered down receivership authority, we could not attract enough (support) from across the aisle to ensure enactment into law.”
In a brief discussion with reporters, Shelby would not declare the GSE regulatory reform bill dead. “It is on the calendar,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.” Most observers have said, barring a GSE crisis or a compromise, they do not expect the bill to come up for a vote in the full Senate. (Dow Jones & Company, John Connor, 04/23/04; American Banker, Damian Paletta, 04/26/04)
In an interview on CNNfn’s Street Sweep, Shelby said, “…if there’s another scandal, a restatement of accounting, and things like this in the future, I believe the climate would change. Then, we will have a good chance to pass a meaningful reform bill dealing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank. But until then, I don’t see a lot passing this year, barring a catastrophe with these institutions.” (CNNfn Street Sweep, Christine Romans, 04/27/04)

Congress is supposed to regulate Fannie and Freddie, but when they didn't get their act together, Bush tried to change things.

Playing chess with the GSEs: the Bush administration takes matters into its own hands

Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have stalled Congress’ efforts to rein them in through regulatory reform, the Bush Administration is taking matters into its own hands. The White House is considering a three-way regulatory crackdown on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by Treasury, HUD and OFHEO, which are all exploring tough new rules whose ultimate effect would be to limit the rapid growth of the GSEs.
The Bush administration’s plan to take the regulatory route and bypass Congress caught Capital Hill Republicans by surprise and left some GOP leaders uneasy that they’re being cut out of the picture. Some lawmakers question if the plan isn’t just an election-year stopgap to insulate Bush from a financial crisis, should one arise as November 2 approaches. Calling for radical changes in GSE oversight in an election year, especially as interest rates start to rise, could roil the housing market and have the opposite of a calming effect. Thus, some Hill conservatives are warning the Administration not to overplay its hand.
While the Bush administration still sees a need for legislation to clamp down on Fannie and Freddie, officials think regulatory steps will help constrain the GSEs in the meantime. By in effect “parking more tanks on the companies’ lawns,” the administration hopes to persuade Fannie and Freddie that they won’t be able to avoid tougher regulation by resisting the administration’s initiatives in Congress. What’s the endgame? Get Fannie and Freddie or their boards or even shareholders to cut a deal on reform. As the debate shifts from safety and soundness regulation to implied government guarantee and growth limitation, the GSEs may feel fewer incentives to deal, not more.
“The administration has a lot of tools and leverage under current authorities to bring to bear on the process,” said Sheila Bair, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, who supports the Bush administration’s position. “But the question is -- how far do you push before Fannie no longer sees it in its interest to come to the table at all?” (Business Week Online, Paula Dwyer, 04/30/04; Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty and John D. McKinnon, 04/28/04; American Banker, Rob Blackwell, 05/03/04)