This reminds me of when Gary Hart defied reporters to find dirt on him.



Link

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Reading is Fundamental.

Illegal Contrabutions From Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae…

Sep
16 admin

Illegal Contributions From Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae…

Who are top “earners” of campaign contributions from the Federally Created Lending institutions. I submit that any Federally Created entity cannot lawfully give one thin dime to politicians - but despite that lets take a look at how much and how fast these illegal contributions have been going to the politicians from institutions that were created ostensibly for creating and managing housing loans for Americans (data from OpenSecrets.com here).

(by the way, the table does not show up properly on the combined view of the blog, so select the name and look at the post individually to see the entire table)

Here are the top four:

Name Office State Party Grand Total Total from
PACs Total from
Individuals
Dodd, Christopher J S CT D $165,400 $48,500 $116,900
Obama, Barack S IL D $126,349 $6,000 $120,349
Kerry, John S MA D $111,000 $2,000 $109,000
Bennett, Robert F S UT R $107,999 $71,499 $36,500

Wow, the top three are Democrats (real surprise there), but the real interesting thing to note is that Barack Obama, who has only been a senator for 3 short years, has almost caught up to Christopher Dodd - who has been at this racket for 34 years… Soooo… This makes one wonder how Mr. Obama has achieved this unprecedented level of illegal contributions from these illegally created quasi governmental organizations.

It’s simple really, these are corrupt organizations controlled by corrupt politicians.

To put his into perspective, Chris Dodd has made $4864.71 per year on average from these bogus companies. But B. Obama has made $42116.33 per year! almost ten times the rate as Mr. Dodd.

Notice the John McCain is 62nd on the list… and he has been a politician for 16 years (so he only made $1346.88 per year).

McCain, John S AZ R $21,550 $0 $21,550

So what can we gather from the fact that our government created these two monumental failures - which the constitution does not give them the right to create and wich can never work because free market capitalist principles are not at work within these behmoths of governmental inefficiency?

We can gather that those politicians who operate with corrupt principles will prosper from such corrupt organizations - and it is the corrupt philosphy of liberalism that lead to this current state.

not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

''There is a general recognition that the supervisory system for housing-related government-sponsored enterprises neither has the tools, nor the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity and importance of these enterprises,'' Treasury Secretary John W. Snow told the House Financial Services Committee in an appearance with Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who also backed the plan.

Mr. Snow said that Congress should eliminate the power of the president to appoint directors to the companies, a sign that the administration is less concerned about the perks of patronage than it is about the potential political problems associated with any new difficulties arising at the companies.

The administration's proposal, which was endorsed in large part today by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would not repeal the significant government subsidies granted to the two companies. And it does not alter the implicit guarantee that Washington will bail the companies out if they run into financial difficulty; that perception enables them to issue debt at significantly lower rates than their competitors. Nor would it remove the companies' exemptions from taxes and antifraud provisions of federal securities laws.

The proposal is the opening act in one of the biggest and most significant lobbying battles of the Congressional session.

After the hearing, Representative Michael G. Oxley, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced their intention to draft legislation based on the administration's proposal. Industry executives said Congress could complete action on legislation before leaving for recess in the fall.

''The current regulator does not have the tools, or the mandate, to adequately regulate these enterprises,'' Mr. Oxley said at the hearing. ''We have seen in recent months that mismanagement and questionable accounting practices went largely unnoticed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,'' the independent agency that now regulates the companies.

''These irregularities, which have been going on for several years, should have been detected earlier by the regulator,'' he added.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, was created by Congress in 1992 after the bailout of the savings and loan industry and concerns about regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages from lenders and repackage them as securities or hold them in their own portfolios.

At the time, the companies and their allies beat back efforts for tougher oversight by the Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal Reserve. Supporters of the companies said efforts to regulate the lenders tightly under those agencies might diminish their ability to finance loans for lower-income families. This year, however, the chances of passing legislation to tighten the oversight are better than in the past.

In other words, you have no response to the initial post, so you think you'll blow a little smoke?

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Reading is Fundamental.

I’m experiencing déjà vu

What a gig being paid $15,000 a month to whisper into McCain’s ear!

Nice "work," huh?

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Reading is Fundamental.

This IMO is a non-story because there isn't many if any who didn't get money in some form or fashion from frannie & freddie.
I think the question is which of the two candidate put their name on a bill to try to fix the problem.

Senator McCain Speaks in Support of
The FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005
The United States Senate
May 25, 2006

Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

And still, no response, no refutation, no comment about the fact that McCain stated something one night that was proven a lie just a day later?

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Reading is Fundamental.

In response to the latest disclosure, the McCain campaign issued a statement saying that Davis left the firm and stopped taking salary from the firm in 2006.

A person familiar with the contract says the $15,000 a month in payments to Davis' firm started around the end of 2005 and continued until the past month or so. The person spoke on condition of anonymity.

The connection between Davis and the housing giants that figure centrally in the global financial crunch emerged after the McCain campaign unleashed a sharp attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama.

McCain has tied Obama to Fannie and Freddie's troubles and has called on Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines – both Obama supporters and former Fannie Mae executives – to return large golden parachute payments they received from the corporations after leaving.

McCain's campaign released a new television ad that says Raines is among those advising Obama on housing policy.


Funny that the person who says that it continued to the past month spoke on the 'condition of anonymity'. They could say anything or make up anything based on the 'condition of anonymity'.

Guess Obama didn't like it when McCain tied Obama to Fannie & Freddie.

Yep. . .pretty much. It's crazy to compare the two. He's still a partner and equity holder in Davis and Manafort. So his firm was paid consulting fees from Fannie and Freddie. . .not like he directly took million dollar bonuses.

Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafort for the presidential campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to benefit from its income.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Maybe if we had his actual complete quote in context we could.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

And still no refutation, just a few repeats of the already-debunked lie about Obama and Raines.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Isn't that what you did when you first posted this??

Feel free to look it up yourself. I can't imagine what "context" would change the quote, but I'd love to hear you explain it.

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Reading is Fundamental.

The old standard reply. So typical.....

You forgot Johnson. . .oh wait.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Oh yeah. .. cause context doesn't count! My bad. . .

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Nothing to prove the NYT is wrong? Just more smoke. Hmmph.

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Reading is Fundamental.

They only post a partial quote out of context. . .what's to prove?

Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for the McCain campaign, did not dispute the payments to Mr. Davis’s firm. But she said that Mr. Davis had stopped taking a salary from his firm by the end of 2006 and that his work did not affect Mr. McCain.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Fascinating stuff.

Much more, in context and everything, at:
Boomeranged

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Reading is Fundamental.

Still not in context, but I found it:

HARWOOD: You mentioned cronyism and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington, and you've criticized Obama for self dealing here. How do you square that with the fact that your campaign manager, Rick Davis, was involved in some lobbying activities on behalf of Fannie Mae? And secondly, what specifically would you prevent, would you outlaw--what activity would you outlaw in Wall Street to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Sen. McCAIN: Now, on Wall Street, I'd--obviously we need to stop--we need to more--have more transparency. We need to take the regulatory agencies and merge them together in one effective agency. These regulatory agencies, this alphabet soup, was really designed for a different era. We're now in global transactions. We need more transparency. We need to combine the regulatory agencies, and we need to give them some more authority, if necessary, to do so. You know, Secretary Paulson had a package of recommendations sometime ago that basically did not really go anywhere. Maybe we can look at those and other recommendations in the future.

In Washington, I still think that it was the special interest money that went--and Fannie and Freddie money that went, and everybody was involved in this--not everybody, but certainly Senator Obama got next amount of money, except for the two Democratic chairman. His vice presidential search team was headed by Mr. Johnson, and...

HARWOOD: And your campaign manager?

Sen. McCAIN: And my campaign manager has stopped that, has had nothing to do with it since, and I'll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.

So what does he mean by "since"? Since Davis has been working on his campaign?

__________________
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Apparently he meant "since last month."

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Reading is Fundamental.

Obama and Democrats connected to Fannie Mae
YouTube - Explosive Video, Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama and the Dems the "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae

Guess more like 18months:

Davis also said he "had a severed leave of absence" from his lobbying and consulting firm, and "I've taken no compensation from my firm for 18 months." (A campaign spokesman said that Davis receives no partnership distribution under his arrangement)...

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

He's an owner and he gets no money from it?

Pretty bad investment, I'd say.

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Reading is Fundamental.