Freddie & Fannie, a brief history on financial regulation

I've been reading a lot of praise by those on the left for the Obama administration regarding their push for financial reform.

Its ironic for me to hear them blaming George Bush for 'not doing' anything. Particularly when he was the force that tried to get something done.

The New York Times was the first one to give the Bush administration credit for trying to oversee Freddie and Fannie. They did so way back on September 11, of 2003.

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

Most of us know what happened during that attempt to regulate the industry. But in case you don't, here's a short video lesson:

The Wall Street Journal was kind enough to sum up the whole sordid saga in a commentary provided by Karl Rove. Some highlights:
Because of this, the Bush administration warned in the budget it issued in April 2001 that Fannie and Freddie were too large and overleveraged. Their failure "could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting federally insured entities and economic activity" well beyond housing.
I like to fact check, so I looked it up.
After all, if you're going to quote Karl Rove, someone isn't going to believe you. This is what the 2002 FY budget of George Bush said, in his first year in office [my emphasis in red, added]:

Uncertainties about the Federal Government’s liability
have increased in some areas. Consolidation has
increased bank size, and deregulation has allowed
banks to engage in many risky activities. Thus, the
loss to the deposit insurance funds can turn out to
be unusually large in some bad years. The potential
loss needs to be limited by large insurance reserves
and effective regulation. The large size of some GSEs
is also a potential problem. Financial trouble of a large
GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets,
affecting Federally insured entities and economic
activity.

Interesting, huh?
Its almost like... Republicans were on top of this the entire time.
Not convinced yet?
Read this quote:

There is some evidence that the mortgage industry
has seen an increase in the number of predatory loans.
Predatory loans, which carry excessive fees or other
unfair pricing structure, harm unsuspecting buyers.
Predatory loans are more prevalent in the subprime
market where conventional loans are made to higher risk
borrowers. The Government can improve mortgage market
efficiency by squeezing out predatory practices
through increased regulation and disclosure. In addition
to predatory lending, the mortgage industry also has
seen increased incidences of fraud.

Sound familiar?