Barney Frank, Then and Now [re: Fannie and Freddie]

Greg Mankiw's Blog ^ | 2003, 2010 | various

[1rudeboy]

A news story from 2003:

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....

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

A news story from yesterday:

In a sharp-edged debut debate, US Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat, and Sean Bielat, his Republican challenger, squared off yesterday over national security, illegal immigration, and the roots of the mortgage crisis....

Bielat, a former Marine officer from Brookline, said Frank had contributed to the downfall and subsequent recession by supporting lenient lending standards for prospective home buyers.

“He has long been an advocate for extending homeownership, even to those who couldn’t afford it, regardless of the cost to the American people,’’ said Bielat, 35.

Frank, a leading liberal who has represented the state’s Fourth Congressional District for nearly 30 years and became chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in 2007, said he and other Democrats fought to curb predatory lending practices before the recession but were thwarted by Republicans. He said he had supported efforts to help low-income families rent homes, rather than buy them.

“Low-income home ownership has been a mistake, and I have been a consistent critic of it,’’ said Frank, 70. Republicans, he said, were principally responsible for failing to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants the government seized in September 2008.

[1rudeboy]

First article is a New York Times excerpt, and the second is excerpted from Monday's Boston Globe.

[1rudeboy]

ping

(I find it funny, but only because FR has its own BDS-crowd claiming pretty much the same things).

[Deagle]

The cover-up has begun!

[1rudeboy]

Mankiw does some yeoman’s work.

[petercooper]

Barney Frank must lose bump.

[true believer forever]

BARNEY FRANK MA-4

Go Time -1

September 26, 2010

Barney Frank, When Democrats Were On The Rise: There Is No Housing Bubble; We Must Expand Freddie/Fannie.

Barney Frank, When Democrats Are On the Slide: We Must Abolish Freddie/Fannie.

 

Dodd: "How'd it go?"

Frank: "Good... the taxpayer took it all without
so much as a whimper. Near the end he even
seemed to be enjoying it."

 

Video documentary of Frank's building of the bomb that blew up the entire world economy, and then claiming he tried to stop Bush from hitting the button: 

@ http://ace.mu.nu/archives/304800.php

BYE  BYE BARNEY SEAN BIELAT MONEY BOMB IN PROGRESS NOW...

@ http://www.byebyebarney.org

More  barney stuff at my blog, help yourself: http://buddysblog@typepad.com/blog/

I  struggled for months to try and find a way to present Barney's history when it comes to Fannie and Freddie, that wasn't so convoluted people couldn't understand.  Ace does a great job... I got a lot of positive results using this... and it inspired others to pass it along... it even changed some votes!!

[Mase]

Mankiw does some yeoman’s work.

And for his efforts he is regularly targeted by the BDS crowd here.

[RummyChick]

that picture of him pulling up his pants is disgusting..

[true believer forever]

Apparently, he walks around DC seriously sleep-deprived... prob drug-induced and explains a lot of his psychotic behavior. Sorry if it offended you..

HOLD ON TIGHT, THE 7TH DAY IS VERY NEAR...

we are here >  frontlines 

soon here >  jericho  

"Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time, we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith."
 

~ Ronald Reagan.

America, God shed His grace on thee.

 

these 2 little videos will take approx 11 min of your time... they are worth it... if you bleieve...  If you believe, Barney can come tumbling down!

 

 

[Pelham]

“To open up the doors of homeownership there are some barriers, and I want to talk about four that need to be overcome. First, down payments. A lot of folks can’t make a down payment. They may be qualified. They may desire to buy a home, but they don’t have the money to make a down payment. I think if you were to talk to a lot of families that are desirous to have a home, they would tell you that the down payment is the hurdle that they can’t cross. And one way to address that is to have the federal government participate.

And so we’ve called upon Congress to set up what’s called the American Dream Down Payment Fund, which will provide financial grants to local governments to help first-time home buyers who qualify to make the down payment on their home. If a down payment is a problem, there’s a way we can address that. And when Congress funds the program, this should help 200,000 new families over the next five years become first-time home buyers.”

[1rudeboy]

You left out the date.

[1rudeboy]

And for his efforts he is regularly targeted by the BDS crowd here.

This one should send them running back to DailyKos in order to find some new material.

[Pelham]

That speech was delivered in October 2002. A little less than a year before the proposal for a new agency to oversee Fanny and Freddy.

A program that removed the need to produce a downpayment may have contributed to poor risks getting home loans.

[1rudeboy]

A program that removed the need to produce a downpayment may have contributed to poor risks getting home loans.

Of course it did, and no one listened to the warnings that the programs had gone too far. The only difference is, citizens on the Right choose to forget what they were told, and politicians on the Left lie about what they did. The two go hand-in-hand. You are being played for a fool by Barney Frank.

[Pelham]

“You are being played for a fool by Barney Frank.”

You seem eager to jump to that conclusion, considering that what I posted had nothing to do with him. That quote was from Bush, pushing one of his minority-pandering programs. He even had some praise for Franklin Raines and Fanny and Freddy:

“Freddie Mae – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – I see the heads who are here; I want to thank you all for coming – (laughter) – have committed to provide more money for lenders. They’ve committed to help meet the shortage of capital available for minority home buyers.

Fannie Mae recently announced a $50 million program to develop 600 homes for the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Franklin, I appreciate that commitment. They also announced $12.7 million investment in a condominium project in Harlem. It’s the beginnings of a series of initiatives to help meet the goal of 5.5 million families. Franklin told me at the meeting where we kicked this office, he said, I promise you we will help, and he has, like many others in this room have done.

Freddie Mac recently began 25 initiatives around the country to dismantle barriers and create greater opportunities for homeownership. One of the programs is designed to help deserving families who have bad credit histories to qualify for homeownership loans. Freddie Mac is also working with the Department of Defense to promote construction and financing for housing for men and women in the military.

There’s all kinds of ways that we can work together to meet the goal. Corporate America has a responsibility to work to make America a compassionate place. Corporate America has responded. As an example – only one of many examples – the good folks at Sears and Roebuck have responded by making a five-year, $100 million commitment to making homeownership and home maintenance possible for millions of Americans.”

[rdb3]

(I find it funny, but only because FR has its own BDS-crowd claiming pretty much the same things).

You got that right!

Runaway Slave

Apostle Claver tells the world how the real party of racism is the Democrats

[1rudeboy]

You seem eager to jump to that conclusion, considering that what I posted had nothing to do with him.

I won't go so far as to say that your contribution to this thread has nothing to do with the subject of it. But it concerns Frank being an abject liar.

Elements of the Bush Administration (Mankiw, the author of this blog, included) warned about Fannie and Freddie as early as 2001, and the Administration itself warned about Fannie and Freddie shortly thereafter, yet you are focused like a laser beam on what Bush said before 2003.

It's as if I tell you that it's ok to drive 65mph on a particular stretch of road, you crash your car on another stretch, and exclaim "but you said it was ok to drive 65mph!"

Here's another timeline. [YouTube]

[FreedomFighter1013]

CNBC has the the tale of the tape. The man is detestable.