Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has earned mixed reviews in his response to the subprime mortgage crisis. But the New York Times’ Stephen Labaton portrays Paulson today as taking charge in Sunday’s multibillion-dollar bailout of public-private mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It was Paulson who reached out to Democratic leaders in Congress and persuaded them to add the bailout onto a pending housing bill. And if the bill passes, it will be Paulson who has now made the federal government responsible for the debt and financial solvency of two quasi-government mortgage firms that are the nonetheless on the stock market.

With Fannie, Freddie, and Bear Stearns, Paulson and the Bush administration have been quick to bailout the people financing terrible loans. If only Housing and Urban Development could have been as swift helping people who took the loans.-MB

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