[syriacus]

He called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase commitments to the 'minority' market by $440 billion. (See: President Calls for Expanding Opporunities to Home Ownership)

Bush DID ask for expansion of programs to help home buyers.

But, it is not clear whether he ACTUALLY asked for $440 Billion or MERELY thanked "lenders" for their $440 commitment

At any rate

Would Bush have asked for this if he had known Fannie Mae was cooking the books?

Would Americans have allowed this to continue for 5 more years if an independent overseer told them about the abuses?

If Democrats had supported reform we would be in much better shape now.

[avacado]

"At any rate Would Bush have asked for this if he had known Fannie Mae was cooking the books?"

No he would not have. In fact, the next year 2003, he raised the flag that those instutions were in trouble and put forth a proposal for regulations and oversight which was beat down by the Democrats.

New York Times
Published: September 11, 2003

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

Continued:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

But, it is not clear whether he ACTUALLY asked for $440 Billion or MERELY thanked "lenders" for their $440 commitment

Bush's speech the next day was more clear (See: President Reiterates Goal on Homeownership:

And so, therefore, I've called -- yesterday, I called upon the private sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to report that Fannie Mae has heard the call and, as I understand, it's about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're talking about here. It's in their charter; it now needs to be implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital.