Posted on 02/09/2009 6:53:23 AM PST by 2nd amendment mama
4th paragraph:
Earlier GSE Bill Would’ve Prevented Fannie, Freddie Takeover - Regulator
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
By Michael R. Crittenden
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)—If the Bush administration and Congress had succeeded in passing a regulatory overhaul for Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) earlier than this year it may have prevented them from being taken over by the government, the firms’ regulator said Monday.
James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in a speech in Las Vegas that he discussed the issue with former President George W. Bush just days before President Barack Obama took the oath of office.
“Although he already knew the answer, he asked me whether getting GSE reform legislation several years earlier would have prevented the [companies’] problems,” Lockhart said. “My answer was simply, yes.”
The two government-sponsored enterprises were put under government control in September amid concerns about their capitalization and solvency. The Bush administration had for years sought to tighten oversight of the firms, but bickering with the members of their own party who controlled Congress, as well as with Democrats, prevented any action on legislation until last summer.
Lockhart defended the decision to put the firms under government control, saying that without the move the firms would have had to “pull back dramatically from the market, which would have accelerated the downward spiral.”
In the speech to the American Securitization Forum, Lockhart also pressed those involved with the mortgage-backed securities market to do more to help stem the record numbers of foreclosures that have been a root cause of the current credit crisis. He called stabilizing the housing market “the biggest challenge we face,” and said private industry participants need to be more aggressive in working with struggling homeowners.
“There will be no excuses going forward not to aggressively pursue standardized modifications to prevent foreclosures and lessen their negative impact on communities and the nation’s economy,” Lockhart said in his prepared remarks.
Mortgage servicers need to embrace streamlined approaches for reworking mortgage loans and keep borrowers in their homes, Lockhart said. He praised an ASF program to create a standardized loan modification program but said “it is taking too long.”
“These are extraordinary times, and we need extraordinary actions,” he said.
Lockhart also said that he is hopeful that the Obama administration’s plan to use the second $350 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program will include some help for private mortgage insurance companies.
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273; michael.crittenden@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
The Dems knew this would happen...it is an ill-hidden ploy to divide the GOP party. The media will only speak of the Republicans, not the Dems. I doubt if people even know what party controls Congress. (not that the traitors were ever IN the party)
Correct.
Collins was up for reelection only 3 months ago. I posted several threads saying she needed a real Republican challenger in the 2008 primary. Conservative activists shrugged it off ("But Maine is a blue state, she needs to be that way to win... blah blah blah") and were too busy whining about politicians who agree with them 90% of the time instead. Republicans in Maine then rubber stamped her for another yet term and Susan knew she could vote with the RATs on most major issues and get a free pass from the party base. So why not?
And I'm not even going to get into all the conservative activists on FR who openly supported Specter in the 2004 primary, arguing that "only he" could "win" Pennsylvania (with an even dumber argument being "President Bush wants Specter renominated, he must have a good reason for doing so, and we must support OUR President"
That argument in particular makes me sad.
This is true. On any given issue they may have several GOP votes. Maybe on something really nasty you’ll have a couple rats be against it.
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