Bush Cleared on FannieMae and FreddieMac Debacle?

According to a piece by Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal,

"Mythmaking is in full swing as the Bush administration prepares to leave town. Among the more prominent is the assertion that the housing meltdown resulted from unbridled capitalism under a president opposed to all regulation."

"Like most myths, this is entertaining but fictional. In reality, FannieMae and FreddieMac were among the principal culprits of the housing crisis, and Mr. Bush wanted to rein them in before things got out of hand.

• According to Rove, in 2001 the Bush administration warned that "Fannie and Freddie were too large and over leveraged."
• Mr. Bush wanted to limit systemic risk, and
• He wanted Fannie and Freddie to be treated just like their private-sector competitors.

The real estate industry will be dealing with the collapse of FannieMae and FreddieMac for a long time. As in all cases, the history will be written by the eventual victor.

Read the full article here.

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