Obama Housing Pick Knee Deep In Housing Debacle

Posted by Tina

What happens to Democrats when they are part of a scandal? Quite often they are rewarded and promoted. That’s certainly the case with President Obama’s choice for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Rep. Mel Watt, according to the
Daily Caller:

In 2002, Watt teamed up with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Bank of America, BB&T, and UJAMMA Inc., to announce Pathways to Homeownership, a pilot initiative designed to give home loans to welfare recipients.

A press release from Watt’s campaign office in October 2002 said that the loans to the welfare recipients would require “as little as $1,000 of the down payment to come from their own funds ” and that the city of Charlotte would help borrowers obtain a “down payment subsidy” to cover the rest of the 3% down payment.

If approved to head up Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Watt will be regulating the very government agencies whose rules he negated in 2003.

I suppose one could argue that he’s qualified to run this agency because he knows how to scam the system and avoid scrutiny from regulators but it’s rather like letting the fox guard the chicken coop.

How far did Representative Watt go to keep this sub-prime loan outrage alive? In 2007 he helped Barney Frank block efforts by the Bush administration to reduce Fannie and Freddie’s exposure to risk and after the market began to turn sour He and Frank sponsored a bill forcing Fannie and Freddie to meet even higher quotas of high risk lending for inner city communities. His district’s forclosure rate was twice the national average.

This man should not be given the position but I doubt his nomination will be blocked. Unless the American people demand better from our representatives we deserve the leadership we get and the lousy conditions that bursting bubbles and financial collapse bring.