Barney Frank seeks to destroy the evidence of his part in the housing bubble
Barney Frank, made acutely aware of his own perilous position as a principal agent in the housing bubble when his partner in crime-Chris Dodd-announced his retirement, is moving to erase the evidence by destroying what is left of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Frank's involvement runs both wide and deep. He backed legislation that forced lenders to expand lending into the "sub prime" arena; used his influence to get jobs for friends and lovers; provided political cover for the institutions when Republicans noticed something was amiss and in the final days accused large Wall Street firms of causing the bubble. These would be the same banks that Frank has pressured over the years to do his bidding.
Ironically, Frank has continued to quote sources like the Wall Street Journal for calling him "crafty", while attempting to cover up the fact it was over legislation that would have made the housing bubble worse!
Old cite by Frank:
Even the hyper-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page grudgingly termed Frank a "crafty liberal" in a June 14, 2005 diatribe against the proposal to include an affordable housing fund in the pending Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) bill that would make changes in the operation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Frank is a leading proponent of the fund.
New cite by Frank:
"[A] crafty liberal... Frank couldn't have written a better bill for the Democrats if he were Financial Services Chairman..."
-- Wall Street Journal Editorial, June 14, 2005 on Fannie Mae legislation
And just what was the WSJ warning about in its editorial?
The economic risk in real estate today is that many people are buying homes they won't be able to finance if mortgage rates rise. This is also one of the dangers of putting so much housing risk in two giant companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac....
Demonstrating that even Barney Frank knows he is guilty!
Republicans, of course, have for years been calling for an end to the Big Government interference that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have come to represent with their Enron-style accounting. Of course they were always opposed in Congress by people like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, who claimed for years that "nothing was wrong" in the housing market.
Frank's involvement runs both wide and deep. He backed legislation that forced lenders to expand lending into the "sub prime" arena; used his influence to get jobs for friends and lovers; provided political cover for the institutions when Republicans noticed something was amiss and in the final days accused large Wall Street firms of causing the bubble. These would be the same banks that Frank has pressured over the years to do his bidding.
Ironically, Frank has continued to quote sources like the Wall Street Journal for calling him "crafty", while attempting to cover up the fact it was over legislation that would have made the housing bubble worse!
Old cite by Frank:
Even the hyper-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page grudgingly termed Frank a "crafty liberal" in a June 14, 2005 diatribe against the proposal to include an affordable housing fund in the pending Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) bill that would make changes in the operation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Frank is a leading proponent of the fund.
New cite by Frank:
"[A] crafty liberal... Frank couldn't have written a better bill for the Democrats if he were Financial Services Chairman..."
-- Wall Street Journal Editorial, June 14, 2005 on Fannie Mae legislation
And just what was the WSJ warning about in its editorial?
The economic risk in real estate today is that many people are buying homes they won't be able to finance if mortgage rates rise. This is also one of the dangers of putting so much housing risk in two giant companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac....
Demonstrating that even Barney Frank knows he is guilty!
Republicans, of course, have for years been calling for an end to the Big Government interference that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have come to represent with their Enron-style accounting. Of course they were always opposed in Congress by people like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, who claimed for years that "nothing was wrong" in the housing market.