Blaming Bush for the mortgage mess

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It has long been clear -- to me, anyway -- that no one in the Congress or the federal government made a serious effort to stop the mortgage train wreck when it was stoppable. No one did what the Federal Reserve is famously supposed to do, which is to take the punch bowl away before the party gets out of hand.

This is a party that raged all night and into the next day, with new punch bowls being delivered around the clock (Refinance again!!) even while the grumpy neighbors -- that would be all of you bubble bloggers -- were calling the cops to complain. The cops were shrugging and saying, ‘Home ownership is a wonderful thing, ma’am. They’re just celebrating the American Dream. Go back to sleep.’

The way I see it, both political parties knew about the crazy party, thought it was a good thing, and now own this mess.

That said, it’s true the Bush administration did thwart some state efforts to crack down on predatory lending. This is the version of events New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, pictured, writes in the Washington Post: ‘Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.’

Your thoughts? Comments? Feel free to correct my version of history by providing specific examples of public officials who cried ‘bubble,’ or otherwise tried to stop irresponsible lending -- and borrowing -- before 2007.

Hat tip: Maggie Knowles
Photo credit: Bloomberg News