Oct

5

Nancy Pelosi Boasts About Reforming A Problem She Claims To Have Known Nothing About

October 5, 2008 | 3 Comments

House Resolution 1427 seems to contradict Speaker Pelosi’s claims of ignorance and surprise, at least as they relate to the financial scandal.

Last week, Nancy Pelosi gave face time to the netroot online serial, “Meet The Bloggers”, and claimed that the President just suddenly dropped the news of the financial crisis on Congress at the last minute. She also claimed that this is all the President’s and Republicans’ fault for their freewheeling days of deregulation.

The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007, H.R. 1427 would seem to contradict her assertions.

From the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), which is the government organization tasked with direct oversight of Fannie and Freddy:

Legislation

OFHEO has continued to strongly support enactment of legislative reform to strengthen GSE
oversight. During the past year, the agency worked with the Bush Administration, Congress and
interested parties on legislation that will provide bank regulator-like powers to a new GSE regulator overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The House of Representatives passed, on a bipartisan basis, GSE regulatory reform legislation (H.R. 1427) in May 2007. It is a balanced bill that will strengthen the nation’s housing finance system by enhancing oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. It is my hope that the Senate will complete its work on this important legislation soon.

From Nancy Pelosi’s own website:

On May 22nd, the House passed the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007, H.R. 1427, which will overhaul the regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, and create a new, independent regulator with broad powers analogous to current banking regulators. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), meaning they are both created and chartered by Congress in addition to being private, profit-seeking businesses. While these enterprises have grown rapidly in recent years, there has been question as to the effectiveness of the current methods of regulation. This legislation will improve the effectiveness of regulatory oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises.

Question for Speaker Pelosi: If you are so surprised now, what were you trying to reform in May 2007?

As far as I can tell, and I am no expert in these matters, the legislation was referred to committee in the Senate. I do not know what happened to it after that.

From the Library of Congress:

5/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

The resolution was sponsored by Rep Barney Frank.

They all saw this coming. For Speaker Pelosi to act like a surprised deer in the headlights now, is disengenuine at best.


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Junk Science Skeptic on October 5, 2008 2:30 pm

    Pelosi lied, banks died!

  2. elHombre on October 5, 2008 6:33 pm

    One could assume from Frank’s 2007 legislation that he blocked earlier regulatory reform of Fannie/Freddie by Republicans, despite knowing it was vital, for purely partisan reasons, rather than for the reasons he gave at the time — which were lame enough.

  3. GayPatriot » Frank Hypocrisy on October 5, 2008 7:30 pm

    [...] got the message that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed additional oversight.  Last year, he sponsored H.R. 1427 which would have strengthened oversight of the GSEs. It passed the House, but died in Chris Dodd’s Senate Banking Committee. So, if he finally [...]

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