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Line 130: − − === National Homeownership Strategy === − On June 5, 1995 Clinton along with HUD Secretary [[Henry Cisneros]]<ref>Cisneros, along with DNC Chairman Christopher Dodd and cabinet Secretary Donna Shalala, was implicated in the Countrywide Mortgage lending scandal for receiving special favors and treatment while in office.</ref> unveiled one hundred things the Clinton administration planned to do to "increase home ownership to two-thirds of the population"<ref> ''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, p. 658; [http://confoundedinterest.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/nhsdream2.pdf The National Homeownership Strategy,] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, MAY 1995. </ref> in the United States.
→1993-1997, U.S. Presidency: expand
Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[http://billmoyers.com/episode/crony-capitalism/ Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012. </ref>
Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[http://billmoyers.com/episode/crony-capitalism/ Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012. </ref>
=== National Homeownership Strategy ===
Bill Clinton addressed a letter to HUD Secretary [[Henry Cisneros]] on November 3, 1994. In it he instructed Cisneros to
<<Cquote|dramatically increase homeownership in our nation over the next six years. I request that you report back to me within six months, with a concrete strategy involving the private and public sectors, and all levels of government, that builds on the base of the more than 1.5 million additional families who have been able to buy their own homes...to ensure that families currently underrepresented among homeowners - particularly minority families, young families, and [[low-income]] families - can partake of the American Dream."<ref>http://economy.typepad.com/the_economy/2011/10/rate-watch-795-the-national-homeownership-strategy-october-7-2011by-dick-lepre-dickleprerpm-mtgcom-wwwloanminecom.html The National Homeownership Strategy,] October 7, 2011. See also [http://www.globalurban.org/housing_us.htm globalurban.org]</ref>}}
On June 5 1995, Clinton and Cisneros<ref>Cisneros, along with DNC Chairman Christopher Dodd and cabinet Secretary Donna Shalala, was implicated in the Countrywide Mortgage lending scandal for receiving special favors and treatment while in office.</ref> unveiled one hundred things the Clinton administration planned to do to "increase home ownership to two-thirds of the population"<ref> ''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, p. 658; [http://confoundedinterest.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/nhsdream2.pdf The National Homeownership Strategy,] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, MAY 1995. </ref> in the United States.
Clinton's plan spoke approvingly of a "no-down payment 100 Percent Mortgage Financing Program" used by one of the "Strategy partners".<ref>National Homeownership Strategy, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, pp. 4-7.</ref> Where down payments could not be eliminated, the plan advocated use of "a second, unsecured, interest-free loan to cover the down payment and other costs."<ref>National Homeownership Strategy, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, pp. 4-14, 4-17.</ref> The administration praised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their efforts to promote lending flexibility: "In recent years many mortgagees have increased underwriting flexibility. This increased flexibility is due, at least in part to … liberalized affordable housing underwriting criteria established by secondary market investors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."<ref>National Homeownership Strategy, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, pp. 4-13</ref> To illustrate the desirable flexibility the Strategy cited a Connecticut program that "allows for nontraditional employment histories, employment histories with gaps, short-term employment, and frequent job changes."<ref>National Homeownership Strategy, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, pp. 4-14.</ref>
=== Budget and tax increases ===
=== Budget and tax increases ===
In 1995 President Clinton and Congressional Republicans fought a bitter battle over the new federal [[budget]]. Clinton vetoed the Republican's efforts to move toward a balanced budget, claiming that it cut social programs. Speaker Gingrich believed that Clinton would back down and approve the budget. If not, the entire government would shut down because of lack of funds. Clinton allowed just that, and by doing so gained political capital by successfully blaming that shut down on Republicans. Clinton always opposed a balanced budget until it was reality.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/no-bill-clinton-didnt-balance-budget No, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget,] By Stephen Moore, October 8, 1998. Cato Institute. </ref>
In 1995 President Clinton and Congressional Republicans fought a bitter battle over the new federal [[budget]]. Clinton vetoed the Republican's efforts to move toward a balanced budget, claiming that it cut social programs. Speaker Gingrich believed that Clinton would back down and approve the budget. If not, the entire government would shut down because of lack of funds. Clinton allowed just that, and by doing so gained political capital by successfully blaming that shut down on Republicans. Clinton always opposed a balanced budget until it was reality.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/no-bill-clinton-didnt-balance-budget No, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget,] By Stephen Moore, October 8, 1998. Cato Institute. </ref>
===Don't ask don't tell ===
===Don't ask don't tell ===