ElGordo

Fannie and Freddie Did Not Cause This Crisis

Ridiculous cop-out by Thoma. Even Barney Frank acknowledges Fannie was the problem but is trying to evade responsibility with a big lie.
On O'Reilly's "The Factor" , Barney Frank claimed he was not responsible for the Fannie, Freddie debacle because from 1995 to 2007 his party was in the minority on the Housing Committee and he had no power until he became Chairman on Jan. 31, 2007.
This is a Big Lie.
For Your Information;
You should be made aware of the following facts that O’Reilly did not have.
During that 1995-2007 period Barney Frank was not powerless but had DE FACTO CONTROL of the Housing Committee on matters concerning Fannie, Freddie and sub-prime mortgages.
Barney Frank was the ranking member and had all the Dems on that committee voting with him as a block and intimidated a few vulnerable Republicans with threats of racism unless they voted with him on matters concerning Fannie and Freddie.
This gave Frank the majority he needed and DE FACTO CONTROL of the Housing Committee.
Unfortunately, O'Reilly's staff didn't equip him with this information.
The bottom line though is Barney Frank, all the Dems on the Housing Committee and Franklin Raines are the prime culprits in the Fannie, Freddie, sub-prime disaster.

Paraphrasing the WSJ Sept 9, 2008 DEMS and BARNEY FRANK USE FANNIE MAE AS THEIR PIGGY BANK
"But the biggest payoff for Mr. Frank is the "affordable housing" trust fund he managed to push through as one political price for the recent Fannie reform bill.
This fund siphons off a portion of Fannie and Freddie profits -- as much as $500 million a year each -- to a fund that politicians can then disburse to their favorite special interests".