“Huge Federal Government is a core tenet of RATS though. Yes Pubbies have contributed, but philosophically Conservatives and most Republicans stand against this kind of market intervention that has led to this debacle.”
Who said this....
“And, of course, one of the larger obstacles to minority homeownership is financing, is the ability to have their dream financed. Right now, we have a program that all of you are familiar with, maybe our fellow Americans are, and that’s what they call a Section 8 housing program, that provides billions of dollars in vouchers to help low-income Americans with their rent. It encourages leasing. We think it’s important that we use those vouchers, that federal money to help low-income Americans go from being somebody who leases to somebody who owns; that we use the Section 8 program to not only help with down payment, but to help with continuing monthly mortgage payments after they’re into their new home. It is a — it is a way to help us meet this dream of 5.5 million additional families owning their home.
I’m also going to encourage the lending industry to develop a mortgage market so that this script, these vouchers, can regularly be used as a source of payment to provide more capital to lenders, who can then help more families move from rental housing into houses of their own. “
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021015-7.html
I find it very interesting that, when it comes to all discussions about the housing crisis, Bush’s “Ownership Society” rarely, if ever, gets mentioned. DemocRATS can’t exactly point the finger over this fine progressive agenda, and Republicans, although this agenda was received by them with applause, don’t want to be reminded of the role Bush played.
Am I the only one who thinks it ABSOLUTELY INSANE to give mortgages to unemployed and illegals being housed with a Section 8 housing voucher!!
“DemocRATS can’t exactly point the finger over this fine progressive agenda, and Republicans, although this agenda was received by them with applause, don’t want to be reminded of the role Bush played.”
It’s one thing to talk about a government incentivized home ownership program within Section 8 (for maybe for a small group of people meeting a clear set of criteria), it’s a whole other thing to have opened up the floodgates to some grandiose dream of increasing minority home ownership by 5.5 million families. That said, Pres. Bush mentioned “good policies out of Washington” and “a strong commitment from those of you involved in the housing industry.”
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Whatever vision Bush and team had in 2002, it’s clear looking back that their version of minority home ownership failed along with Barney Franks and Chris Dodd’s and every other RATs even more grandiose schemes.
Don’t forget when the Bush admin tried to pull back the excesses of Fannie and Freddie they were opposed on every count.
Who’s to blame? I say trusting bankers too much to do the right thing (complete repeal of Glass-Steagall w/o adequate controls to replace/reform it), the RATS socialism, Bush’s tendency to be liked as a compassionate Conservative without pushing back against lame brained grandiose schemes, and then the RATs refusal to help Bush reign in the mess 2005 - 2007. There weren’t a lot of heroes.
I maintain that philosophically Republicans and Conservatives are (or should be) against this kind of massive market intervention and disruption.
The free market, and free people, can do way more good for the poor than any government program ever could. World Vision, Food for the Hungry, Compassion International, and even Habitat for Humanity prove that - all have innovative programs to help the poor. Probably Habitat is more inclined to be liberal and look for government help, but they still have innovative private programs to help the poor into home ownership.