Frank was the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee in 2003 and opposed the Bush administration proposal, in response to accounting scandals, for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to a new agency that would be created within the Treasury Department.
Even Clinton said that while he was president that HE and Republicans tried to get oversight for Fannie and Freddie but Democrats opposed it.
Both the Democrats and Bush were on board with loosening lending practices. Here are some excerpts from a Bush speech in Atlanta.
“And what we’ve got to do is to figure out how to make sure these stories are repeated over and over and over again in America. Three-quarters of White America owns their homes. Less than 50 percent of African Americans are part of the home-ownership in America, and less than 50 percent of the Hispanics who live here in this country own their home. And that has got to change for the good of the country; it just does.”
“And so that’s why I propose and urge Congress to fully fund the American Dream Downpayment Fund. This will use money, taxpayers’ money, to help a qualified low-income buyer make a downpayment, and that’s important.”
“One of the barriers to homeownership is the inability to make a downpayment. And if one of the goals is to increase home-ownership, it makes sense to help people pay that downpayment. We believe that the amount of money in our budget, fully approved by Congress, will help 40,000 families every year realize the dream of owning a home. “
“And we want to fully implement the Section 8 housing program, homeownership program. The program will provide vouchers that first-time home buyers can use to help pay their mortgage or apply to their downpayment.”
“That’s why I’ve challenged the industry leaders all across the country to get after it for this goal, to stay focused, to make sure that we achieve a more secure America by achieving the goal of 5 1/2 million new minority homeowners. I call it America’s homeownership challenge.”
“And let me talk about some of the progress which we have made to date, as an example for others to follow. First of all, Government-sponsored corporations that help create our mortgage system—I introduced two of the leaders here today; they call those people Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—as well as the Federal Home Loan Banks will increase their commitment to minority markets by more than $440 billion. I want to thank Leland and Franklin for that commitment. It’s a commitment that conforms to their charters as well and also conforms to their hearts. This means they will purchase more loans made by banks to African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities, which will encourage homeownership.”
George W. Bush
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=62687