By Mike Allen
Published: 07-30-08
With none of the fanfare that usually attends a landmark bill becoming law President Bush signed the huge housing rescue bill just after 7 a.m. Wednesday shortly after he arrived in the Oval Office.
Only a few aides and administration officials were present including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Steve Preston and James B. Lockhart III the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The White House announced the signing by e-mail moments later.
The bill the biggest overhaul of housing law in decades provides a lifeline for an estimated 400000 homeowners facing foreclosure and provides assurances to the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac whose books are loaded with bad mortgages.
Usually such a bill signing is accompanied by a self-congratulatory ceremony with souvenir pens for congressional leaders and for members senators and chairmen who spearheaded the legislation.
But Bush initially vowed to veto the bill as being overly socialistic. He finally dropped his objection when he decided that it was better than nothing. In a rare split House Republicans opposed the bill and business interests like home builders and bankers favored it.
The White House had said there would be no bill-signing event with one administration official noting ruefully that they had no desire to trumpet the accomplishment of the committee chairmen Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).
Tony Fratto deputy assistant to the president and deputy press secretary said in a statement: “We look forward to put in place new authorities to improve confidence and stability in markets and to provide better oversight for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Administration will begin to implement new policies intended to keep more deserving American families in their homes.”
Also present were Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Federal Housing Administration Director Brian Montgomery National Economic Council Director Keith Hennessey and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Karl Zinsmeister.
