Not all subprime loans were "liar loans". A loan could meet Fannie Mae's lowered standards and still be a crappy loan. And Freddie Mae was run by that damn fool who said that 3% reserves were more than enough. If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were so well run, why did they have to be bailed out with tax payer's dollars?
never said they were well run. i only said they were not the cause of the crash. they were caught up in it just like everyone else.
Interesting, both sides claim they have the "facts". But those "facts" don't agree. I'm guessing at least one side is wrong about their "facts".
The GSEs were by no means the sole cause of the crash but they did contribute to it. Both the management of those organizations and their bond investors were willing to take on excessively risky loans because of the moral hazard created by our government. Although the bonds weren't supposed to be government guaranteed everybody knew with a nod and a wink that the government would bail them out if necessary, and indeed, it did.
Yeah, no kidding. This kind of thing is what makes me distrust history books. When you live through something then see people try to tell you it was the opposite, you develop a healthy skepticism. Barney Frank's boyfriend was on FNM's payroll. Doesn't that tell you everything you need to know really? No one in the media will touch it because of the gay angle. If he was republican and it was some woman being paid by an oil company, they would call it a major scandal.
Well, I am referring to smth that is a matter of historical record. Both Democrats and Republicans attempted GSE regulator reform (in 2003 and 2005). In fact, during 2003, when the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House (if I am not mistaken), H.R. 2575, H.R. 2803, S. 1508, S.1656 were introduced (by a mix of Republicans and Democrats), but got nowhere. In 2005, H.R. 1461 was approved by the House, but not by the Republican Senate. All this is documented in THOMAS and publicly accessible. As I mentioned in the other thread, there's absolutely no reason to believe that either party actually has a better record w/regards to the GSEs than the other. You're being disingenuous again. I have mentioned it in the other thread, but former Chiefs of Staff for Reagan and Gingrich were on the GSE payrolls. What's that supposed to be telling you? Yet again, to suggest that the Republican party, in general, has been a paragon of financial discipline and prudence is beyond naive. That said, specific Republicans, like Chuck Hagel, certainly deserve to be singled out for trying to do the right thing during a time when it was extremely unpopular.
Well one could look at what the multiple studies - non-partisan and bi-partisan have said about it. They say the govt supported loans were not responsible in any significant way for the housing crisis and subsequent financial meltdown. .....Or one could keep repeating the right-wing meme.