Obama’s Wrong on Cause of Economic Strife. Proof.

November 2, 2008

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He blames capitalism. He blames the Bush administration. He blames everyone except the redistributionist social engineers that fomented this crisis.
IBD takes this all the way back to Roosevelt (here) but here is a very little part of the tick tock for recent history:

2000
The Senate Banking Committee estimated that, as a result of CRA, $9.5 billion had gone to pay for services and salaries of ACORN and other organizers.
April 2001
The White House, releasing the 2002 budget, declared that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is “a potential problem” because “financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting federally insured entities and economic activity.”…
February 2003
Fannie and Freddie’s regulator warned that unexpected problems at a GSE could immediately spread into financial sectors beyond the housing market.
July 2003
Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and John Sununu, R-N.H., introduced legislation to address regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill was blocked by Democrats….
September 2003
Treasury Secretary John Snow testified that Congress should enact “legislation to create a new federal agency to regulate and supervise the financial activities of our housing-related government-sponsored enterprises” and set prudent and appropriate minimum capital adequacy requirements. But Rep. Frank replied: “I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis.”
January 2005-July 2006
Sen. Hagel, with Sens. Sununu and Dole and later Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., reintroduced legislation to address GSE regulation.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan testified that the size of GSE portfolios “poses a risk to the global financial system. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to bail out the lenders (GSEs) . . . should one get into financial trouble.”…
May 2006
After years of Democrats blocking legislation, Sens. Hagel, Sununu, Dole and McCain wrote a letter to Majority Leader Bill Frist demanding that GSE regulatory reform be “enacted this year” to avoid “the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole.”
John McCain addressed the Senate: “Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were ‘illusions deliberately and systematically created’ by the company’s senior management.
September 2007
President Bush: “These institutions provide liquidity in the mortgage market that benefits millions of homeowners, and it is vital they operate safely and operate soundly. So I’ve called on Congress to pass legislation that strengthens independent regulation of the GSEs. . . . The United States Senate needs to pass this legislation soon.”…
Today 2008
The narrative is of another failed socialist experiment, this time a massive federal effort imperiling the whole U.S. banking industry.
Top recipients of contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989:
• Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.: $165,400.
• Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.: $126,349.
• Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.: $42,350.


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