In a newly found letter from 2006 to the Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, John McCain and nineteen other Republican senators called for urgent steps to be taken to reduce the risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac presented to the American economy.
McCain said that it was,
“…vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that these institutions benefit from strong and independent regulatory supervision, operate in a safe and sound manner, and are primarily focused on the statutory mission. More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either either GSE should fail.”
And prior to that, in bold:
“With the fiscal challenges facing us today…Congress must ask itself who would actually pay for this debt if Fannie or Freddie could not?”
See the letter below.
*image source: humanevents.com
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Interesting to see these documents 2 years before the problem really was noticed. Though its not mentioned, many of these same men helped cause the housing crisis.