Cuomo's Social Engineering as HUD Chief Contributed to Subprime Crisis

Have those New Yorkers, residents of one of the highest taxed states in the union, voting for Andrew Cuomo to be their next governor allowed their ideology to trump sound reasoning?

As many Americans across this great land continue to struggle with the loss of their homes, savings and retirement resources, those that were complicit in not regulating the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the second market namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac causing the subprime loans to detonate are jockeying for power.

Sadly, we are giving those same culprits the honor of office through our votes.

Note: the use of the term 'we' and 'our' is a reference to the electorate and not suggestive of the voting record of the author.

In 1993 President Bill Clinton appointed Andrew Cuomo to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as Assistant Secretary.

In 1997 Cuomo took over as HUD chief replacing Clinton appointee Henry Cisneros. During Cisneros tenure he championed Clinton's goal of social engineering within the housing market forcing lenders to issue loans to those that would not financially qualify for the lending.

Cisneros left office in a scandal involving lying to the FBI over payouts to a mistress, Cisneros subsequently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and though never sent to prison received a pardon from Bill Clinton in 2001.

Andrew Cuomo took the reins and not only furthered Cisneros and Clinton's policies but greatly expanded them.

Henry Cisneros moved the GSEs toward a requirement that 42 percent of their mortgages serve low and moderate income families. Andrew Cuomo raised that number to 50 percent and dramatically hiked GSE mandates to buy mortgages for the "very-low-income."

These bad loans were purchased and sold throughout the secondary market and the pyramid grew and the bottom collapsed resulting in the subprime crisis we are still reeling from today.

In 2008, the Village Voice published a compelling report detailing Andrew Cuomo's policy decisions "that gave birth to the country's current crisis."

The report touched on how Cuomo's 187-page rules "opened the door to abuse." The rules explicitly rejected the idea of imposing any new reporting requirements on the GSEs. In other words, HUD wanted Fannie and Freddie to buy risky loans, but the department didn't want to hear just how risky they were.

Many New York voters have been distracted by the gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's racist joke email forwards, what some are failing to see is the actual harm to the minority community directly caused by Cuomo's policies...and that is no laughing matter.

Cuomo's top aide said, "We believe that there are a lot of loans to black Americans that could be safely purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if these companies were more flexible."

Andrew Cuomo doubled down and had this to say about his HUD standards, "GSE presence in the subprime market could be of significant benefit to lower-income families, minorities, and families living in underserved areas."

How's that working out for the minority community, where foreclosures and unemployment rates have hit the hardest as a result of such failed policies and blatant social engineering?

Related Content: Sex, Lies and Video Tape Starring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

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