GRAPEVINE
Failure of Leadership
BY ANDRE F. SHASHATY
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE • April 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. —While pitcher Roger Clemens
was testifying at a circus of a
congressional hearing a few
weeks ago, House Financial
Services Committee Chairman
Barney Frank was just down the hall,
working away with a handful of other legislators
at a hearing on how to modernize the
Community Reinvestment Act.
His colleagues and the press may have
been more interested in meeting a famous
baseball player, but Frank stayed focused on
keeping up the same impressive productivity
he showed last year in his first
year as chairman.
Frank’s dedication to
housing and community
development is laudable. But
there is a problem. The House
cannot enact legislation on its
own, and all the bills Frank
pushed through last year have
gone on to the Senate—to die.
The Senate is closely
divided, so it’s hard to pass
anything, but since they took
over the majority in 2007, the
Democrats have given up
without even firing a shot.
Instead of working with Frank to push
through important legislation, Senate Banking
Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
decided he wanted to be president of the
United States.
He issued a few press releases and held a
few hearings to make it look like he was working
at the job U.S. taxpayers pay him to do. But
he did none of the hard work needed to forge
agreement with the ranking Republican on the
panel, Sen. Richard Shelby.
At a time of a real crisis in American housing
markets, when homeowners are being
thrown into the street and whole neighborhoods
face a new era of decay, Dodd’s panel has
moved no significant legislation.
Dodd has done nothing to move forward
any of the many pieces of housing legislation
passed by the House.
In my view, the most egregious failure was
his lack of action on the Federal Housing
Finance Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1427). The
bill would overhaul the regulatory oversight of
the government-sponsored enterprises of
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal
Home Loan Banks, and create a new, independent
regulator with broad powers. In addition,
the bill creates an off-budget and nontaxpayerfinanced
affordable housing fund, which will
dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars for the
construction, maintenance, and preservation
of affordable housing.
It’s absurd that this legislation was left
hanging, leaving these mortgage finance firms
in limbo just when they are most needed to
finance affordable rental housing and help
solve the subprime mortgage crisis.
It took Dodd the better part of a year to
realize no one else shared his fantasy about
being president. But even after quitting the
race, he shows no indication he can make up
for lost time in this election year.
A joke is going around that Republican
staff members on Dodd’s committee got
together with their counterparts on the
Democratic side recently. It had been so long
since the committee worked on any legislation,
they had to wear name tags. I know. It’s not
that funny. But then again, Dodd’s absence at a
crucial time for housing and mortgage finance
markets was not at all amusing either.
I urge all of our readers, especially those
in Connecticut, to let Dodd know exactly what
they think of his failure of leadership.
How to Contact Sen. Dodd
- 448 Russell Building, Washington, D.C.,
20510; Phone: (202) 224-2823;
Fax: (202) 224-1083
- 30 Lewis St., Suite 101, Hartford, Conn. 06103;
Phone: (860) 258-6940;
Fax: (860) 258-6958
- To send an e-mail, "express an
opinion” here.
Nominate Leaders
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE wants
to recognize strong leaders in affordable
housing.
Help us by nominating outstanding
individuals who have made lifelong
contributions for induction into the
Affordable Housing Hall of Fame.
We are also doing a feature section
on Young Leaders of Affordable
Housing, the people younger than 40
who are up and coming.
If you have suggestions for either
honor, please send them to Donna
Kimura at dkimura@hanleywood.com.
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