Lopter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Summary:
>
> H.R. 1461: A GSE "Reform" That Is Worse than
> Current Law
>
> HR 1461--a bill that was supposed to create a
> “world class regulator”--is in fact a world class
> failure. Not only does it fail to improve
> significantly upon the regulatory authority of the
> Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
> (OFHEO), but it actually increases the
> opportunities for Fannie and Freddie to exploit
> their subsidies in order to expand into other
> areas of residential finance. While the bill makes
> some modest improvements to the weak regulatory
> structure of OFHEO today, these improvements do
> not bring the authority of the new regulator of
> Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the level currently
> exercised by federal bank regulators. Moreover,
> the deficiencies of the bill so far outweigh its
> modest regulatory improvements that the taxpayers
> and the economy generally would be better off with
> current law. Under these circumstances, unless
> there is a reasonable chance that the bill can be
> strengthened on the House floor, in the Senate, or
> in conference, it does not deserve to proceed
> further in the legislative process.
Wow, you really ARE that dense. First, HR 1461 was the house version. While similar, the Senate version was different and not regarded in the same way. Second, where is the transcript. You apparently must be the only person to have seen them? Or, which is more likely the case, you are being untruthful. Finally, where is the "spending spree" you speak of? Mr. Wallison does not mention it,
Because you are such a fan of Peter Wallison, the author of your AEI report, why don't we see what he had to say in Tuesday's WSJ:
"In light of the collapse of Fannie and Freddie, both John McCain and Barack Obama now criticize the risk-tolerant regulatory regime that produced the current crisis. But Sen. McCain's criticisms are at least credible, since he has been pointing to systemic risks in the mortgage market and trying to do something about them for years. In contrast, Sen. Obama's conversion as a financial reformer marks a reversal from his actions in previous years, when he did nothing to disturb the status quo. The first head of Mr. Obama's vice-presidential search committee, Jim Johnson, a former chairman of Fannie Mae, was the one who announced Fannie's original affordable-housing program in 1991 -- just as Congress was taking up the first GSE regulatory legislation.
In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman Richard Shelby. The bill prohibited the GSEs from holding portfolios, and gave their regulator prudential authority (such as setting capital requirements) roughly equivalent to a bank regulator. In light of the current financial crisis, this bill was probably the most important piece of financial regulation before Congress in 2005 and 2006. All the Republicans on the Committee supported the bill, and all the Democrats voted against it. Mr. McCain endorsed the legislation in a speech on the Senate floor. Mr. Obama, like all other Democrats, remained silent."
Mr. Wallison later states:
"If the Democrats had let the 2005 legislation come to a vote, the huge growth in the subprime and Alt-A loan portfolios of Fannie and Freddie could not have occurred, and the scale of the financial meltdown would have been substantially less. The same politicians who today decry the lack of intervention to stop excess risk taking in 2005-2006 were the ones who blocked the only legislative effort that could have stopped it."
For the whole piece:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212948811465427.html
Also, Mr. Wallison stated in this article -
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.23187/pub_detail.asp - that the Senate bill was tougher than the House bill. Again, no mention of "spending spree" anywhere. Imagine that.