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Please don't try to rewrite history. Fannie/Freddie reforms had bipartisan support for a new regulatory agency with powers to raise minimum capital requirements. That may have helped circumvent the crisis. But that wasn't good enough. The greedier amongst them had to push a new slush fund for affordable housing and demand it be included in the bill. Thanks to people like Mike Pence and Richard Shelby (and 30 other conservative congress critters), that was stopped. Unfortunately, those pushing this pork wouldn't go ahead without their new freebie fund.

Shelby Balks At Fund For Housing - Stance Could Complicate Fannie-Freddie Oversight, June 17, 2005; Page D04

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) has come out against a proposal to divert a portion of the profits of housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay for affordable housing, a committee spokesman said yesterday, perhaps undermining Democratic support for legislation to strengthen oversight of the two companies.

Committee spokesman Andrew Gray said Shelby is concerned about any program that would "encourage" the companies to take on more risk, as they have done in recent years by expanding their investment portfolios to make more money.

Hey— good for you. You did some research and figured out how Congress backed out of the reforms advocated by Bush.

That’s good and I have no problem with that.

Nonetheless, it does not change the comprehensive reforms advocated by the Bush administration. I have never denied that the Republican Congress refused to implement them— as was the case in 2005.

Nonetheless, I also recognize that Fannie Mae, AIG and others made their most substantial donations to democrats to keep this machine going even stronger in 2007.

There is no attempt on my part to change history and your Shelby component only adds to the story I have already told. It does not contradict it.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) has come out against a proposal to divert a portion of the profits of housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay for affordable housing, a committee spokesman said yesterday, perhaps undermining Democratic support for legislation to strengthen oversight of the two companies.

Wait a minute. How can Fannie and Freddie have "profits" when they get billions in bailouts? I have also heard about banks getting huge bailouts that they did not pay back, claim they have "profits." Sounds like accounting sophistry to me.