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The Bush administration housing policy promoted "homeownership" over affordable rental housing. While on it's face it appears to be a noble aim "the american dream" of everyone owning a home, the fact is that most major housing organizations felt that this was impractical. Many people are not ready or able to afford the responsibilities of homeownership. Low downpmt. requirements, reduced underwriting standards, failure to monitor lending practices, pushing Fannie & Freddie to purchase all these "questionable" loans. These were all driven by the administrations housing policies. While nobody was making some of these "fools" refinance their houses multiple times, policy makers and regulators should have realized that the "housing bubble" would self correct eventually and cause this mortgage mess that is in fact the major factor in the failure of the investment banks. Lots of blame to pass around...uninformed borrowers, predatory lenders, $ blind investors and the administration that let it happen without 1 effort to reign in the problem before it was too late.l
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