- “‘These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.“
Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), Sept. 11, 2003, at the time the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. This was in response to a proposal by the Bush administration to significantly overhaul regulation of the two companies in the wake of massive financial irregularities at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It’s not hard to see why every effort to move regulation of these two quasi-governmental companies under the Treasury Department has failed.
