Mel Martinez's Hypocrisy on Housing
| By Ray Seaman - Nov 13th, 2008 at 5:07 pm EST |
Florida Senator Mel Martinez, before being cherry picked by Karl Rove and George W. Bush to run for the Senate in 2004 was the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD.) While HUD Secretary, Martinez was a champion of the kind of housing deregulation which led to the sub prime mortgage crisis which blew up the housing bubble and sent the economy into a tailspin. Here he is in May 2003 on FOX News with Neil Cavuto:
Yep - just deregulate the system - problem solved. Of course, we know the rest of the story. Now that its clear market deregulation has been a complete disaster, Mel has changed his tune. In a press release sent out today, Mel says:
The core of the crisis is having market deregulators like Mel Martinez in charge in the first place. If we want to keep disasters like the housing market collapse from happening again, we can start by holding Sen. Martinez accountable for his actions.
MARTINEZ: Neil, over 25 years ago… as a result of a congressional enactment put in place, RESPA, by the Real Estate Settlements & Procedures Act, and what that does is essentially froze the marketplace static since that time. We haven't evolved in the marketplace on closing or settlement costs as everything else has in the marketplace.
Back in the days… we were doing it the same way we're doing it today. So my proposal is to deregulate the system, allow the market forces to take over, and then allow competition for settlement services to really be something that consumers can shop for and have the opportunity...
Yep - just deregulate the system - problem solved. Of course, we know the rest of the story. Now that its clear market deregulation has been a complete disaster, Mel has changed his tune. In a press release sent out today, Mel says:
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today called for additional action to help stabilize housing prices and stop the onslaught of foreclosures plaguing Florida and the nation. Senator Martinez's comments came during an oversight hearing held by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.
"Until we do something about the foreclosure crisis, until we stop the bleeding and find a floor for the downward spiraling home prices, our economy will continue to suffer; more and more families will suffer," said Martinez, a member of the Senate Banking Committee. "We have to get the focus back on the core of this crisis."
The core of the crisis is having market deregulators like Mel Martinez in charge in the first place. If we want to keep disasters like the housing market collapse from happening again, we can start by holding Sen. Martinez accountable for his actions.
Comments are closed for this post.
But congress chose not to regulate the GSE.