Seventeen. That's how many times, according to this White House statement (hat tip Gateway Pundit), that the Bush administration has called for tighter regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congress has cooperated only once. In spring 2007, as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank likes to point out, the House did pass a bill in response. The Senate did not act until 2008; Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd spent most of 2007 camped out in Iowa running for president. The legislation passed by Congress in 2008 enabled Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to put Fannie and Freddie into federal conservatorship this summer when they failed. But it didn't prevent them from spewing a huge amount of toxic waste, in the form of subprime and Alt-A mortgages, into our financial institutions from 2004 to 2007. As Stephen Spruiell points out in The Corner on National Review Online, Fannie and Freddie spewed out $1 trillion worth (face value) of subprime mortgages between 2005 and 2007. That's a whole lot of toxic waste. For more detail, consult the items referred to in my previous blogpost on this subject (most of the comments seem to have been disputes about the plot line of the movie It's a Wonderful Life, which I should think could be settled by consulting a reference work).

Much if not all of that could have been prevented by a bill cosponsored by John McCain and supported by all the Republicans and opposed by all the Democrats in the Senate Banking Committee in 2005. That bill, which the Democrats stopped from passing, would have prohibited the GSEs from speculating on the mortgage-based securities they packaged.

NOW I AM SURE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BLAME BUSH FOR WHAT HAPPENED, BUT THE FACTS DON'T SUPPORT THIS.  ANOTHER ARTICLE IF YOU NEED MORE PROOF.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-caused-the-financial-crisis-the-big-lie-goes-viral/2011/10/31/gIQAXlSOqM_story.html

There are a ton of Youtube videos showing the democrats praising Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the time that those institutions were being mismanaging.  Republicans asked for more regulation and the Democrats (Barney Frank) dismissed the warning signs saying nothing was wrong.  Here is just one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyqYY72PeRM

Also, whoopie that the deficit is smaller.  Guess what the National Debt has almost doubled from $10 trillion to $20 trillion.  You might want to take a look at the article below to understand the full story and implication since looking only at the deficit is like democrats thinking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were great examples of excellent management.........while both institutions were making toxic subprime mortgages.