Barney Frank has a new political ad now airing in his quest for re-election to Congress. The ad touts his quest to increase regulation of financial institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Isn't this a bit like closing the door after the horse has left the barn? His chutzpah is limitless: in a recent fiery exchange with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, he had the temerity to act as if he had no responsibility in the collapse of the above mentioned firms. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as the housing bubble swelled to the point of explosion, he continuted to claim "everything is fine". Not so. A couple months later, financial chaos.
What he won't tell you about in his ad is his propensity to consider both institutions as arms of his preferred political policy - using them to extend mortgage credit to folks simply not qualified for home ownership. This political agenda was shared by other Democrats in the House and Senate. These same folks were at the center of resistance to any measures to reign in bad lending practises.
Yet now they pass themselves off as crusaders for increased scrutiny of the very same markets they helped destroy.
Amazing...
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