View source for Myths/Bill Clinton helped cause the 2008 mortgage crisis

==Myth==
Bill Clinton has frequently been accused of being complicit in the 2008 mortgage crisis – a major contributing factor to the 2008 financial meltdown – and that therefore Clinton (and Democratic economic policy) bears responsibility for both the mortgage crisis and subsequent [[Myths/Bill Clinton helped cause the 2008 financial meltdown|financial meltdown]].

The basic argument seems to be that Clinton put pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FM/FM) to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people under the {{l/ip|Community Reinvestment Act}} (CRA), which led to an increased number of risky loans, thus increasing the number of eventual foreclosures – a problem which was at the heart of the 2008 mortgage crisis. 

This claim was especially popular during the closing weeks of the {{l/ip|2008 US presidential race}}, where criticism of Clinton (and his administration) was being used as criticism of [[Democratic Party]] policies and, by implication, of {{l/ip|Barack Obama}}.

Numerous examples of this claim are [[issuepedia:2008 mortgage crisis/Clinton/accusations|on Issuepedia]].
==Reality==
* '''First''': Congress passed the CRA in '''1977'''; Bush started weakening enforcement in '''2004'''. Which act do you think was more likely to have been the cause of a crisis in '''2008'''?
* '''Second''': Republicans were aware of the developing housing bubble, and yet blocked any action to help reduce the effects of the crisis that would inevitably result when the bubble popped, including:
** efforts to curb predatory lending
** efforts to improve investigation of fraud in the banking industry
* '''Third''': Most of the housing loans that failed were ''not'' CRA loans, and CRA lenders engaged in less dangerous lending overall.
==Related==
* Issuepedia: {{l/ip|2008 mortgage crisis/Clinton}}: more details and notes
* [[Myths/Bill Clinton helped cause the 2008 financial meltdown]]