Financial Mess 2008 Edition UPDATED

Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcpy, Meryl Lynch bought by Bank of America, Bear Stearns and maybe AIG lead the list of financially troubled institutions. Oh, let's not forget Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Who is really to blame for the current financial implosion?

It is easy to blame the Current President, but is George Bush really to blame? Not entirely. Yes he bears some of the blame, but the bigger share goes to Congress. According to the New York Times online, President Bush asked for an overhaul in September 2003 - that's 5 years ago (New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae).

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.
...
The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates. [Empahis mine]

So what happened?

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

Ultimately it is the Democrats in Congress, Lead by Barnie Frank, who must bear the lion's share of the blame. It was five years ago that President Bush stated that the present system was broken. It may be that President Bush didn't push hard enough, but the Congress has the final say in this matter.
(H/T Hot Air)

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UPDATE
Nancy Peloci has, according to "The Hill", refused to take any responsibility for the current Financial Mess.

When asked whether the Democrats “deserve some responsibility” regarding the economic crisis, Pelosi responded: “No.”

Somehow I recall Congress claiming the need for more Congressional Oversight on just about everything. Apparently this is true only when the News is Good. Interesting.