iWill Blog

Did the Bush Administration recommend reform forms to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as far back as 2003?  According to a New York Times article dated 09/11/2003 the answer to that question is a resounding yes. 

The article begins by stating…

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Despite the Bush Administration’s attempts to reform these two organizations Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee seemed to think that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not facing any kind of financial crisis.  He states the following:

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.

Representative Melvin L. Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, agreed with Frank’s assessment and statement.  He had the following to say concerning Bush’s proposal to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing.

It is very clear from this article that the Bush Administration and other Republicans were aware of the potential problems that an unreformed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could pose to our Nation and the American people.  It is also clear that Republicans were the ones who were leading the way on reforming these two corrupt organizations while Democrats blocked their efforts every step of the way.