James Lockhart was Deputy Commissioner of Social Security earlier in the Bush Administration. Lockhart left Social Security to become head of OFHEO. Never heard of OFHEO? It regulated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I think you have heard of them lately. Apparently, Lockhart is getting little blame in the recent debacle with those institutions. He is one of the people testifying before the Senate Banking Committee today on the President's proposed $700 bailout of Wall Street.
He shouldn't get any blame.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ofheo.gov/media/annualreports/OFHEOReporttoCongress07.pdf
April 10, 2007
OFHEO Releases Annual Report to Congress
As part of our second strategic goal, OFHEO has been working with the Congress and the Administration on legislation to reform the regulatory oversight of the housing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). I am pleased that the House Financial Services Committee has drafted,
debated and passed out of committee a strong reform bill that strikes a balanced approach to needed
statutory reforms. H.R. 1427 provides the basic building blocks of a strong, bank-like regulator for the GSEs.
So what happened to H.R. 1427
“Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007”
Major Action
3/9/2007 Introduced in House
5/9/2007 Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 110-142.
5/22/2007 Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 313 - 104 (Roll no. 396).
5/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Who is the Chairman of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee?
Answer Christopher Dodd
http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2008/06/sen-christopher-dodd-tied-to-c.html
Sen. Chris Dodd Tied To Countrywide Mortgages
From the Wall Street Journal to the Associated Press, the national media were reporting Friday that U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd received favorable mortgage rates from a highly controversial mortgage company.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/hc-ctstan0625.artjun25,0,6191402.column
Dodd Deserves Financial Scrutiny
Dodd's dealings with Countrywide — one of the contributors to the foreclosure crisis — indeed have the whiff of impropriety and the perception that he got special considerations because he was an influential senator.
For the last 20 years, Dodd has been the No. 1 recipient of Countrywide's campaign contributions,