jkjsooner
10/12/2008, 06:49 PM
I've been looking a little closer into McCain's claims that he warned us about Fannie and Freddie a couple of years ago.
It is true that McCain and Bush did warn us and that many democrats blocked some regulation attempts on the GSE's. However, the context of these warnings is very different than what is implied.
The warnings were in response to irregularities in the financial statements of the GSE's. No doubt the warnings and regulation calls were appropriate and no doubt that Dodd/Frank and the gang - due to heavy lobbying - fought these attempts.
But these financial irregularities have little or nothing to do with our current financial crisis. At the time we did not have falling housing prices which, while inevitable, were not predicted by Bush or McCain. This is the root of the current crisis. General accounting problems at the GSE's years ago have absolutely nothing to do with our current situation.
Our current crisis extends way beyond the GSE's and Bush and McCain showed no interest in regulating the various other parties involved in this fiasco. They had no interest in controlling predatory lenders. They had, and still have, no interest in going after those house buyers (probably the majority on stated income loans) who filed fraudulent applications. They had not interest in controlling the over-leveraged orgy of Wall Street.
McCain did warn us but he in no way warned us about the root cause of this crisis. Any attempt to say so is at best misleading and at worst an outright lie.
Footnote: My point isn't to say Obama or Democrats are better. I just want to point out that they are all corrupt / ignorant and guilty.
It is true that McCain and Bush did warn us and that many democrats blocked some regulation attempts on the GSE's. However, the context of these warnings is very different than what is implied.
The warnings were in response to irregularities in the financial statements of the GSE's. No doubt the warnings and regulation calls were appropriate and no doubt that Dodd/Frank and the gang - due to heavy lobbying - fought these attempts.
But these financial irregularities have little or nothing to do with our current financial crisis. At the time we did not have falling housing prices which, while inevitable, were not predicted by Bush or McCain. This is the root of the current crisis. General accounting problems at the GSE's years ago have absolutely nothing to do with our current situation.
Our current crisis extends way beyond the GSE's and Bush and McCain showed no interest in regulating the various other parties involved in this fiasco. They had no interest in controlling predatory lenders. They had, and still have, no interest in going after those house buyers (probably the majority on stated income loans) who filed fraudulent applications. They had not interest in controlling the over-leveraged orgy of Wall Street.
McCain did warn us but he in no way warned us about the root cause of this crisis. Any attempt to say so is at best misleading and at worst an outright lie.
Footnote: My point isn't to say Obama or Democrats are better. I just want to point out that they are all corrupt / ignorant and guilty.