2009-01-07 President Bush Tried to Rein In Fan and Fred
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President Bush Tried to Rein In Fan and Fred
longer text
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, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the principal culprits of the housing crisis, and Mr. Bush wanted to rein them in before things got out of hand.
Rather than a failure of capitalism, the housing meltdown shows what's likely to happen when government grants special privileges to favored private entities that facilitate bad actors and lousy practices.
If Rove says it, you can be reasonably certain the opposite is true. This is the same man who recently claimed Bush is a voracious reader, who reads dense texts "to relax and because he's curious.", belittled the idea of spending any money on infrastructure mere hours after a major water-main break due to poor maintenance, and countless other whoppers.
This part of what he wrote is true: "Mythmaking is in full swing as the Bush administration prepares to leave town." -- and he should know, since he's certainly contributing his share. The "myth" he cites in the next sentence is, of course, the truth he is trying to mythologize out of existence. Heckuva job, Rovey.
[edit] shorter text
Karl Rove writes: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the principal culprits of the housing crisis, and Mr. Bush wanted to rein them in before things got out of hand.”
