Posted by
Bill Crawford on Friday, July 02, 2010 1:26:45 PM
Imagine my relief. No more recessions. Right?
Than again, I should have known it was what it was when two of the Three Musketeers of the housing crisis posed for victory pictures after the Senate vote. Talking to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank about fixing this recession is like having your starting pitcher give up six home runs in three innings and then getting into an argument about how the outfielders were playing too shallow.
So, why should I be surprised when an omnibus bill designed to prevent another housing crisis downturn would not have any provision at all for two of the three institutions left, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who have yet to pay back their bailout money (AIG being the other)?
Why should I ever expect these two clowns to learn a lesson from this? They obviously don't see their actions as culpable in any way.
How do I know this? The emergency war supplemental bill was in the process of getting a few budget provisions added to it (the subject of my next entry here), so Senator Corker (Tennessee) tried to attach a provision that would require any Fannie or Freddie housing loans to have a 5% down payment. Of course it went down, 52-47, but the kicker was Dodd's explanation: "Passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it".
You can't make this stuff up, folks.