JM Editorial Excerpt:Where were the Republicans? After all, back then there were more of them in Congress including on all the committees.
John McCain in fact, sounded the alarm in 2005, and sponsored legislation, perhaps too late even then, that would have reduced the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac threat. Obama? He stayed on the sidelines while fellow Democrats torpedoed McCain's efforts.
I'm assuming the legislation the Messenger editorial is referring to was S-190, which John McCain co-sponsored back in '05. All things being equal including the political wrangling that goes on in committees, the bottom line is the Republican-led majority killed it. The bill never made it past introduction and apparently died in committee. During the 109th Congress (2005-2006), the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs was comprised of 11 Republicans and 9 Democrats.
Last Action on S-190: Jul 28, 2005: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Status: Dead
On the House side during the 109th Congress, the Committee on Financial Services was also majority Republican chaired by Rep. Michael Oxley, a Republican. Despite this, Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Dodd, both chairmen of current committees dealing with banking and financial services were recently accused of not doing enough to stop the fallout leading up to the Wall street crisis by flaming loudmouth Bill O'Reilly. Meanwhile, President Bush and John McCain both exclaim,"the fundamentals of the economy are strong" as recently as two weeks ago.
Comment from GovTrack:One piece of legislation that did pass was the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). It was enacted in the 70s in a bipartisan vote and strengthened under Bill Clinton, also in a bipartisan manner. The point is....the CRA may have been lobbied for by the banks and Wall Street investment firms to loosen up credit standards to gain more markets, but this legislation is not even a partial explanation for why we are here today. Intentions of the CRA were meant to discourage discriminatory(prejudicial) lending practices, not encourage or replace it with predatory lending practices and lower standards.
On December 16, 2003 President Bush signed the American Dream Downpayment Initiative into law. That was an interesting bill. Why don't you focus on the bills that passed in the last 8 years instead of dithering about failed initiatives?
The reality is, the two issues John McCain, George W. Bush and Republicans are most closely associated with – invading Iraq and deregulating the economy – have produced treasury-snatching national catastrophes. The blame for the worst financial crisis in U.S. history might never be disposed onto one person or event. But the policies and positions enabling an "era of greed" to run wild lay at the foundation of the deregulators - and they happen to be Republicans.
Masters of the Universe
After investing $5 billion into the floundering Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, Warren Buffett implored Congress to rubber stamp the former GS CEO Hank Paulson-brokered $700 billion Bail-Out. Now comes word the Bush Administration has selected another former Goldman Sachs executive to be the interim head of the bail-out effort.
Bush: Hurry up - Then Wait
After repeatedly urging Congress to hurry up and pass the bail-out bill, Bush now says this is going to take time - be patient.
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