Congress Moves to Reinflate the Housing Bubble That Caused the Financial Crisis

Veteran political commentator Michael Barone reports that liberal congressional leaders are pushing policies to “inflate the housing bubble again,” even though “our financial system broke down because we had, thanks to government policies, a housing bubble.”

Congressional leaders are ignoring warnings from experts across the political spectrum, such as conservative Peter Wallison’s October 16 piece in the Wall Street Journal, titled “Barney Frank, Predatory Lender,” and liberal Charles Lane’s recent piece in the Washington Post, “Doubling Down On the Wrong Housing Policy.”  (Wallison, a banking expert, prophetically warned for years about the risky practices of the government-sponsored mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were at the core of the financial crisis, and later had to be bailed out by taxpayers at a cost of around $200 billion.)

The Obama administration is also busy promoting the junky, risky mortgages that fueled the housing bubble, showing that it has learned nothing from history.

In the Washington Examiner, Meghan Cox Gurdon explains how housing policies affected two sisters, one responsible and one irresponsible.  The financially-irresponsible sister, who was unable to manage her own finances, and had recently defaulted on a small car loan, ended up getting a taxpayer-subsidized mortgage.  Meanwhile, the responsible sister and her husband were unable to obtain a mortgage loan, despite having an “excellent credit rating” and money for a large downpayment.