Scott Factor has the most relevant quotes, plus the video of Barney Frank’s “wisdom” prior to the housing mortgage collapse that led to the 2008 economic meltdown:
Stupid, lying, forever full of bull Rep. Barney Fwank (D-Mass.) (No relation to Elmer Fudd) was speaking at a forum on national housing policy back in December, 2006. Shortly after this speech, Fwank became Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Some of the comments he made at this forum go to prove that he and the Democrats are liars, thieves, incompetents, and will make up stories as they go to fit any situation. This is not leadership, it’s incompetence.
Here are some quotes from this video:
“You will see far less difference with Democrats taking over in the Financial Services regulatory area…..One of the things we did was try to reduce the reporting requirements from the banks to the financial detectives. Far too much has to be reported now in my judgment.”
Well, I guess if they reported more, it would be easier to prosecute all of the fraud that took place, or better yet, the fraud would never have occurred. Still willing to blame the economic mess on Bush?
Then he babbles about the now troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: “You could have cut back on their ability to borrow as cheaply or you could leave that benefit in place and distribute it more fairly. That’s what we chose to do with the affordable housing fund.”
So, welfare loans for those who could not afford them, and what did we get? A banking crisis related to all the foreclosures because we loaned money to people who couldn’t’ afford to borrow it. Still willing to blame the economic mess on Bush?
Fwank babbles about the housing bubble, before it went bust: “I do want to address this thing about the bubble. I think the bubble is an entirely inappropriate metaphor. Let me just be very clear, houses ain’t tulips. Houses today even with the drop in housing prices are more valuable than tulips were however many years ago when we had the tulip business.”
Fwank on the busted bubble: “I think it’s a good thing that housing prices are dropping…..A 10% drop in housing prices is a good thing. Housing was over-valued.”
Still willing to blame the economic mess on Bush?
Fwank on the busted bubble again: “…I don’t think that there’s a crisis, and I do think that the end result in a 10% drop in many parts of the country will be a more rational and healthier housing market.”
I’ve tried to tackle this issue in previous articles:
Who REALLY Exploded Your Economy, Liberals Or Conservatives?
With Eyes Finally Wide-Open, Reconsider Why The Economy Collapsed In The First Place
Biden: ‘We Misread the Economy’ – And it’s all the Republicans’ Fault
But Barney Frank might do a better job demonstrating that Democrats were all creating the housing mortgage meltdown that imploded our economy than anyone.
Frank acknowledges that the policies that led to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s implosion were DEMOCRAT policies.
And it was Fannie and Freddie that led to this massive economic disaster. From Bloomberg:
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion, according to Peter Wallison, a former general counsel at the Treasury who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
“The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages,” Wallison said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on federal support for the two government-sponsored enterprises, he said.
The U.S. seized the two mortgage financiers in 2008 as the government struggled to prevent a meltdown of the financial system. The debt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks grew an average of $184 billion annually from 1998 to 2008, helping fuel a bubble that drove home prices up by 107 percent between 2000 and mid-2006, according to the S&P/Case- Shiller home-price index.
The Treasury said on Dec. 24 it would provide an unlimited amount of assistance to the companies as needed for the next three years to alleviate market concern that the government lifeline for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest source of money for U.S. home loans, could lapse or be exhausted.
Lax regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to the mortgage companies taking on too many risky loans, Wallison said.
“It turns out it was impossible to regulate them,” he said. “They were too powerful.” He said no one knows how much will be needed to keep the companies solvent.
You can go to another couple of my articles to see that it was Democrats’ policies and refusal to regulate Fannie and Freddie that led to the 2008 economic collapse:
Democrats Refused To Regulate GSEs, Created Financial Tsunami
How ‘Failed Policies’ Of Democrats Were Responsible For Financial Crisis
In the article immediately above, I cite a New York Times article from 1999 in which Peter Wallison saw the massive danger of an out-of-control Fannie and Freddie:
”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.”
But Barney Frank – who led Democrat opposition to fight off any effort to regulate or reform Fannie and Freddie – thought that everything was just going swimmingly with what we now know was a future supermassive black hole implosion:
”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.”
“These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of a financial crisis.” Unless you consider the biggest bailout in the history of the world a “financial crisis,” that is. The AIG bailout was $85 billion. The GM bailout was for $49.5 billion. Compare those to the $400 billion bailout Obama has been handing out to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“Not facing any kind of financial crisis.”
“I think it’s a good thing that housing prices are dropping. . . A 10% drop in housing prices is a good thing. Housing was over-valued.”
“I think the bubble is an entirely inappropriate metaphor.”
“One of the things we did was try to reduce the reporting requirements.”
“You could have cut back on their ability to borrow as cheaply or you could leave that benefit in place and distribute it more fairly. That’s what we chose to do with the affordable housing fund.”
DEMOCRATS CAUSED THIS HELL. THEY WERE ALL OVER IT.
And the Democrat Party that caused this mess to begin with is out doing the same crap that imploded us in the first place all over again.
Tags: $400 billion, 2008, A 10% drop in housing prices is a good thing, a more rational and healthier housing market, affordable housing fund, AIG, bailout, Barney Frank, bubble is an entirely inappropriate metaphor, economic, Fannie Mae, Far too much has to be reported now in my judgment, financial detectives, Freddie Mac, GM, houses ain’t tulips, Houses today even with the drop in housing prices are more valuable than tulips, Housing was over-valued, I don’t think that there’s a crisis, I think it’s a good thing that housing prices are dropping, implosion, meltdown, reduce the reporting requirements from the banks, Wallison
May 15, 2010 at 7:13 am
Michael:
You’ve done a great job of summing up this mess from the beloved Congressman Fwank.
They should hang this guy.
Keep up the good work, and keep the faith.
http://scottfactor.com
May 15, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Hey, thank you. That means a lot coming from you. Your site has frequently had outstanding stuff, and it’s always a privilege to get a “keep the faith” uptick from a respected fellow conservative warrior.
You do the same. Keep up the good work. Keep getting the truth out.