I don't know if this helps or not, but to try and clarify or to at least add to the history of how this debacle started;
First, the "Fannie Mae" that was created in 1938 by President Roosevelt is not at all the same Fannie Mae that was created in 1968 by Lyndon Johnson, nor does the 1968 "Fannie Mae" resemble the Fannie Mae that was created in 1996-1999 by the Clinton Administration. Just a quick "Reader's Digest" abridged version; In 1968, President Johnson privatized Fannie Mae in order to remove it from the national budget. At this point, Fannie Mae began operating as a "quasi-governmental" corporation, (called a "government sponsored enterprise") which generated profits for stock holders while enjoying the benefits of exemption from taxation and oversight as well as implied government backing. Freddie Mac was created in 1970 in order to prevent any monopolization of the GSE market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Mae The Fannie Mae that we are talking about in 2008, was in fact a creation of the Clinton Administration, and the 105th and 106th Congress. One of the biggest changes to Fannie Mae, as well as the overall banking industry came in 1996 when Alan Greenspan issued a ruling allowing bank investment affiliates to have up to a quarter of their business in investments. http://www.nerepublican.com/index.php/2008/09/22/mules-rinos-and-very-few-conservatives/ In particular, President Clinton, in essence, repealed the "Glass-Steagall" Act, and as I am sure most group members recall, (as I do) the theory was, that America's financial competitiveness was being hampered in comparison to Europe's and the emerging economies of Russia and China. That we needed the "Gramm-Leach-Bliley" Act, in order to make America's lending institutions viable and competitive. If you go and look at other posts in this thread, by me, and other members, I think the rest of the history falls into place. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
