Bushclosure

Bushclosure:
During the mortgage crisis of 2008, millions of Americans lost their homes. The Subprime Mortgage Crisis marked the beginning of a global economic crisis. Similar to the reaction of Americans during the Great Depression, many Americans immediately felt frustration that the Bush Administration and the Federal Government were not doing more to help them through their challenges. Americans coined the term Hooverville to describe the shanty tow ns they lived in during the depression. The terms Bushcomony and Bushclosure were coined blame President Bush for bth the mortgage and financial crisis that happened under his watch.
President Bush’s reaction to the mortgage crisis:
As the crisis began to unfold, President Bush attempted to “Offer relief for some home loans”. President Bush “said he would work to ‘modernize and improve’ the Federal Housing Administration ‘by lowering down payment requirements, by increasing loan limits , and providing more flexibility in pricing’”. President Bush went on to say that it is not the government’s job to bail out every American that purchased a home they knew they could never afford.
Public Opinion and Approval Ratings:
Based on a survey of several sources, the approval ratings for George W. Bush peaked immediately following the September 11th attacks then slowly and steadily dropped until he left office. During 2007 and 2008, when the mortgage crisis was at its worst, President Bush’s approval ratings hovered around 30 percent. By 2007, people were publicly blaming President Bush for knowing about the September 11th attacks in advance, yet doing nothing to stop them from happening. The economy took a hard hit in 2008, as economists introduced the word recession. Americans were scared of their financial futures, so they stopped spending, which made matters much worse. Unemployment started to grow rapidly, and Americans lost their homes at the alarming rate. People across the country felt helpless and for the first time in generations, they felt hopeless. In times of crisis the attention turns to the White House, which becomes the target of blame and frustration.
President Clinton’s Role in the Mortgage Crisis:
Many people patially blame President Clinton for the 2008 mortgage crisis because he put pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income families. These loans are much more risky, and have higher default potential.
Hooverville:
During the Great Depression, unemployment rates were at record highs across the country and hundreds of thousands of Americans lived in shanty towns. They felt frustrated that the federal government was not doing more to help them get through the extremely difficult times. This anger and disappointment was focused towards the White House. President Herbert Hoover was blamed for the poor living conditions, so Americans called the shanty towns Hoovervilles.
Despite President Hoover’s attempts to end America’s Great Depression, Americans felt he was not tackling the problems fast enough. His approval ratings declined drastically, and never recovered.
 
< Prev   Next >