President Bush to Blame for Housing Nightmare

Apparently The New York Times is going to blame President Bush for the housing nightmare in their Sunday edition (tomorrow). Since I haven't, of course, read it, I will have to anticipate what The Times will say based on my knowledge of the way it operates.

Actually, this isn't hard to do.

The first thing The Times will do is ignore anything done by Democrats, such as promoting easy qualifying for mortgages to encourage the poor to buy "affordable" housing. Then they will have to overlook the shenanigans Democrat executives like Franklin Delano Raines and Robert Rubin pulled in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to enable the practice of making bad loans continue and grow.

A "must-overlook" for the Times definitely has to be the role Barney Frank and the Congressional Black Caucus (go to : Barney Frank Accompanied by the Congressional Black Caucus Choir) played in blocking Republican reforms in 2004 through 2006.

After 2006 the Times must ignore that Democrats were in charge of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That's an easy one, since a Zogby poll found that over half of Obama's supporters thought the Republicans were still in charge.

"What" you may ask, "is the significance of the Democrats running Congress? Doesn't the president do everything?"

I'm glad you asked, because I'm sure the Times won't.

No, the president does not do everything. Congress has committees, such as the Senate Banking Committee, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the House Financial Services Committee, among many others.

The House Financial Services Committee, for example, is chaired by Barney Frank, Democrat, Massachusetts. According to Mr. Frank:

The Committee oversees all components of the nation’s housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities. The Committee continually reviews the laws and programs relating to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and International development and finance agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Committee also ensures enforcement of housing and consumer protection laws such as the U.S. Housing Act, the Truth In Lending Act, the Housing and Community Development Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, and financial privacy laws

Let's see. His Committee oversees all components of the nation's housing and financial services including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities.

I wonder if anyone at The Times knows this?

We'll find out tomorrow, but I sincerely doubt it.

The Times reporters were probably in the part of the Zogby poll that thought the Republicans were still running everything.

UPDATE: As I anticipated, The New York Times article was written as if Congress and the Democrats never existed. No mention was made of Barney Frank and the Congressional Black Caucus, or of Franklin Delano Raines, Democrat CEO of Fannie Mae, who was found responsible for cooking its books, and given a "hand pat" fine.

The fact that Democrats were in charge of Congress since 2006 is still apparently unknown by most Democrat supporters, including The Times reporters.

UPDATE NO. 2: Damn, I'm good! I nailed The Times article before any of it was even released. As this Fox News release shows, The Times depended on overlooking many things, including reporting they did during the Clinton administration, to enable them to place the blame on President Bush.

The Times knew a lot before they decided to forget.