When Cuomo was Housing and Urban Development Secretary under Clinton, he was the prime mover behind programs that destabilized Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and his programs to mandate banks loan to low-income and bad-credit homebuyers were a significant factor in the housing collapse.
Congresswoman Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to Andrew Cuomo, Pres Clinton's appointee as Secy of HUD. Gillibrand played a key role in furthering HUD’s Labor Initiative and *New Markets initiative (sub-prime mortgages); Gillibrand worked to strengthen the Davis-Bacon Act and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure to revitalize lower income areas across the nation."
"Sure, I know how I got the HUD job. Clinton needed my daddy in his corner,
so I got the HUD job. HUD is where I got the $18 million to run for Governor."
CUOMO AND BILL CLINTON CREATED CONDITIONS FOR MELTDOWN (Village Voice 8-5-08) Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country’s current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the sub-prime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded “kickbacks” to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans.
Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.......
SOURCE http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/how-andrew-cuomo-gave-birth-to-the-crisis-at-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/
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STATEMENT FROM NY GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON
Appoints Kirsten Gillibrand to Hillary's Senate seat
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 23, 2009
EXCERPT “New York State laws empower the Governor to appoint a new Senator if a seat should come open. It is my privilege and my responsibility to make this choice on behalf of the people of New York."
“That is why I am proud to announce my appointment of Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to represent New York in the United States Senate. I am appointing Kirsten Gillibrand because she is the right leader for this decisive moment in our history. “Kirsten Gillibrand, the next junior Senator from New York will have big shoes to fill. This seat has been held by icons of New York State: Robert Francis Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Hillary Rodham Clinton."
" During the administration of President Clinton, Congresswoman Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to Andrew Cuomo, Pres Clinton's appointee as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development."
"At HUD, Congresswoman Gillibrand played a key role in furthering HUD’s Labor Initiative and *New Markets initiative, working to strengthen enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure to revitalize lower income areas across the nation."
Following federal service, Congresswoman Gillibrand entered the private sector, joining one of the Country’s premier law firms.
READ MORE AT: http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/press_0123091.html