Congress caused this so why do you think they can fix it?!

It has been well established that the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are what precipitated this current economic crisis. While I know that the Bush Administration is very unpopular these days it would be unfair to blame them or to not give them credit for trying to do something about the underlying causes since 2001. In addition, Republicans in congress (including John McCain) tried many times to get congress to act and proposed legislation to try and prevent this economic catastophe but they were blocked by Democrats in both houses.

Here are a few links to prove it. Check the date of the New York Times article!

New York Times: New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (Sept 11, 2003)

TaxFoundation.org: Barney Frank on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003 (Frank - ”Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are non in a crisis”

The Wall Street Journal: Blame Fannie Mae and Congress for the Credit Mess

Govtrack: FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005

The White House: Just the Facts: The Administration’s Unheeded Warnings About the Systemic Risk Posed by the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)

The Congressional Record: John McCain address to the Senate in support of the FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005

Investors Business Daily: The Real Culprits In This Meltdown

Hot Air: Whose policies led to the credit crisis?

WHAT WAS IN THIS BILL? – Here is a brief with links to the full text, floor speeches, and other related information.

(This Bill made it out of the Senate Banking Committee by a party-line vote: All Republicans voting for the bill, all the Democrats voting against it!)

There is also video of the House Financial Services Committee debating these issues in 2003 that clearly shows that the Democrats were denying that there was any impending financial crisis related to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the Republicans where trying to get the committee to take action. Unfortunately, I cannot access these video’s due to bandwidth limits but just poke around on the internet and you will find plenty of evidence!

The Republicans should be eating the Democrats lunch on this issue. I don’t know why they do not come out swinging!