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Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants. The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal. And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency.

via The Reckoning – Bush’s Philosophy Stoked the Mortgage Bonfire – Series – NYTimes.com.

Now, I’m not a fan of Mr. Bush (full disclosure, since registering Republican I’ve switched affiliation the the Libertarian party), and have been sharply critical of him over the last 8 years. However, the NY Times article laying the blame for the housing meltdown at his feet is incredibly inaccurate and one-sided. Did Bush make economic mistakes? You betcha! Going to war with Iraq being the largest waste of taxpayer dollars in recent memory. However, let’s not forget the Democrat’s tenacious defense of those early recipients of bailout largess, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I realize it’s kinda easy to forget about them as the antes to get into the bailout game have been ratcheted up, but their lax lending policies brought on by a desire to compete with private subprime lenders helped lead us into this housing mess, and don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Who can forget Barney Frank’s stalward defense of these do-nothing agencies that gave so much in contributions to the democrats. Quick digression, is it me, or would you just once, love to hear Mr. Frank yell “Thufferin’ Thuccatash!”, I mean, since Mel Blanc, has there ever been a better Sylvester impression? To think that the excerpted quote above is all the blame that Fannie/Freddie and their Democratic supporters get in this monster article is ludicrous – I used to expect more from the Times.