Rep. Barney Frank: Wrong on Fannie and Freddie

Tom Skypek — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:15:37 +0000

Today, 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans voted against the bailout legislation before the House of Representatives. In an inaccurate and partisan shot, Rep. Barney Frank said, “The Republicans killed this.” Of course, Rep. Frank conveniently ignores the fact the the legislation was opposed by a significant number of Democrats as well. In 2003, when former Secretary of the Treasury John Snow argued in favor of regulatory reform to provide improved oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rep. Frank said, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not in crisis.” Rep. Frank was obviously dead wrong.

In 2006, Sen. McCain gave a speech on the Senate floor calling for a regulatory framework governing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He said:

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

Sen. McCain has been out in front on this issue while Democrats like Rep. Frank have run in the other direction. Voters should remember this on Election Day. Defaulting to the Democrats on economic matters is a costly mistake.

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Rep. Barney Frank: Wrong on Fannie and Freddie