The Wall Street Journal has a handy reference guide to some particularly interesting quotes from Congressional hearings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they steered the global financial markets onto the shoals. Let’s make this a quiz for Hot Air readers. Can you guess the person and/or their party affiliation from the following quotes? The answer key will be hidden from initial view below.
- The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios.
- Secretary Martinez, if it ain’t broke, why do you want to fix it? Have the GSEs [government-sponsored enterprises] ever missed their housing goals?
- I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.
- I am just pissed off at Ofheo [Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, regulators for Fannie/Freddie] because if it wasn’t for you I don’t think that we would be here in the first place.
- However, I have sat through nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn’t broke. … Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines. … Everything in the 1992 act has worked just fine.
- I believe there has been more alarm raised about potential unsafety and unsoundness than, in fact, exists.
- And my worry is that we’re using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie’s mission.
- I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this is one of the great success stories of all time.
- I know the press, particularly, keeps saying this is another Enron, which it clearly is not.
- Mr. Chairman, what we’re dealing with is an astounding failure of management and board responsibility, driven clearly by self interest and greed. And when we reference this issue in the context of — the best we can say is, “It’s no Enron.” Now, that’s a hell of a high standard.
In order to see the answers, please highlight the rest of this post by clicking your mouse and dragging it over the rest of this post. Grading key: 9-10, you get your PhD in history, with a minor in government screw-ups; 7-8, bachelor’s degree in economics; 5-6, you need remedial work; 4 or less, pray that someone bails you out.
- Barney Frank (D-MA), 9/10/2003.
- Maxine Waters (D-CA), same date.
- Frank, 9/25/2003.
- Gregory Meeks (D-NY), same date.
- Waters, same date.
- Frank, same date.
- Chuck Schumer (D-NY), 10/16/2003.
- Chris Dodd (D-CT), 2/24-5/2004.
- Robert Bennett (R-UT), 6/15/2006.
- Chuck Hagel (R-NE), same date.
Final count: Democrats 8, Republicans 2.
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