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McCain hits Obama on Fannie Mae ties

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor September 18, 2008 06:20 PM


John McCain unveiled a new TV ad this afternoon that tries to paint Democratic rival Barack Obama as so inexperienced on the economy that he has to listen to shady characters.

"Obama has no background in economics," the announcer says.

"Who advises him? The Post says it's Franklin Raines, for 'advice on mortgage and housing policy,' " the announcer says, citing a Washington Post report this week.

"Shocking. Under Raines, Fannie Mae committed 'extensive financial fraud,' " the announcer says, as another newspaper headline appears on screen. "Raines made millions. Fannie Mae collapsed."

Raines, the head of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2004, agreed in April to pay nearly $25 million in a settlement with the government in an accounting scandal.

"Taxpayers? Stuck with the bill," the announcer continues, as an image of an elderly woman appears. "Barack Obama, bad advice, bad instincts. Not ready to lead."

UPDATE: Obama's campaign just issued a response, including a denial from Raines.

"I am not an adviser to Barack Obama, nor have I provided his campaign with advice on housing or economic matters," Raines said in a statement.

"This is another flat-out lie from a dishonorable campaign that is increasingly incapable of telling the truth.  Frank Raines has never advised Senator Obama about anything -- ever.  And by the way, someone whose campaign manager and top advisor worked and lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shouldn't be throwing stones from his seven glass houses," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

In the tug-of-war this week over who can best respond to the Wall Street crisis, McCain has cited his proposal two years ago to rein in the quasi-public mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and criticized Obama for his ties to them and his inaction.

"He took more money from Fannie and Freddie than any Senator but the Democratic chairman of the committee that regulates them," McCain said today in Iowa. "He put Fannie Mae's CEO who helped create this disaster in charge of finding his Vice President. Fannie's former General Counsel is a senior advisor to his campaign. Whose side do you think he is on? When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senator Obama was silent. He didn't lift a hand to avert this crisis. While the leaders of Fannie and Freddie were lining the pockets of his campaign, they were sowing the seeds of the financial crisis we see today and enriching themselves with millions of dollars in payments. That's not change, that's what's broken in Washington."

37 comments so far...
  1. Wait hold on here....

    Fannie and Freddy are at fault for the economy? I thought it was wall street. Gees Johnny Boy, pick a point and stick to it will yea. You Flip Flip more than Kerry ever did.

    Fannie and Freddy are lending institutions, they did not package the bad loans into the bonds that were bought as safe investments, That is what the Bear Sterns/Leaman Brothers/Fidelities of the world did. Who let them do it, why people who deregulated the protections against this sort of thing. Why it was you Johnny Boy, you, Phil Gram and yoru right wing nut job lap dogs who did it. Thanks Johnny.

    No How, No Way, No McCain.

    Posted by James E Stevenson September 18, 08 06:30 PM
  1. Are we really governed and reported to by idiots? They keep saying that the Obama plan will give tax cuts to the middle class, but they provide an investment penalty, and they penalize small business.
    What good is the tax cut if you have no income because there are no jobs? Obama keeps promoting Big Business and Big Government and we know scientifically that they are prone to cascade failures that can destruct the entire network on which they are based. We also know scientifically that networks such as living organism favor distributed adaptable networks because they are more robust and rarely suffer catastrophic failure.
    Why is no one shouting from the roof tops the emperor has no clothes?
    They are treating middle class Americans as if they are stupid, and are incapable of understanding the truth. What is more disturbing is that the media uses the authority principle to sell Obama and these authorities which have a stake in the status-quoi feed the same bull and sell Americans down the river.

    Media wake up and do the right things by the country. Networks have certain laws that govern them. Look up Lazlo Barabasi and ask him about the dangers of centralized systems!
    There is a scientific basis for why capitalism is superior to socialism, and why we need small distributed government versus big government. Centralized systems are useful only in generating standards.

    Obama don’t tell me you are for the middle class, when you are just selling them into indentured servitude to big corporations! Show me how you will bring wealth creation to the middle class.

    Posted by Kimberly Peacock September 18, 08 06:57 PM
  1. AWESOME AD!

    About time Obama's corrupt cronies are exposed.

    The denail from the Obama campaign is laughable and is not credible. Everyone knows Raines ahs been advising the Obama campaign for months. LOL! What a bunch of cons the Obama campaign is.

    And, yah, suurrrrrrrrrrrre, Obama, and I bet the terrorist William Ayers is just someone in the neighborhood that you see at the grocery store once a year. Uh-huh. Sure, Obama. Nobody believes you anymore. You and your felon friends and corrupt elities are part of the problem. Obama has done nothing to help Americans in this matter, and sadly, he is friends and takes advice from the head kingpin (Franklin Raines) that was making millions while adding to the corruption corruption at Fannie Mae. Pathetic!

    Bill Burton got one thing right in his statement. Burton's statement IS indeed another flat-out lie from a dishonorable campaign (OBAMA) that is increasingly incapable of telling the truth!!

    Mr. Burton, you and Obama are telling lies, and now you have been caught in another one.

    McCain-Palin '08
    Hillary 2012


    PUMA

    PUMA!!

    Posted by Hillary Democrat for McCain-Palin '08 September 18, 08 07:45 PM
  1. How can Obama fix the economy when he is the second largest recipient of campaign donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Also, fellow democrat, Barney Frank, is the one that stopped regulation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

    Posted by Steve Carlsen September 18, 08 07:46 PM
  1. James,

    You know about as much about economics and the root cause of the investment bank crisis as Barack does.

    But I hear there's a position open since Franklin Raines has been thrown under the bus with the rest of the Friends of Barack.

    You should probably advise him that the Community Reinvestment Act which mandated loans be made to people with little to no collateral and no ability to pay is the root cause.

    Of course the derivatives that Wall Street came up with to package notes and roll them into money isn't helping matters but they weren't the root cause. Liberals like root causes, don't they?

    Posted by John Walsh September 18, 08 07:53 PM
  1. In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
    This time the stakes are much higher then most people could imagine
    I would like to point out some things you may already know in a new way.

    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown, and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
    is terrifying. He thinks it could get worse then the great depression.
    Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest mortgage bank in the world, Bear Stearns, Lehman brothers, and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top five Wall Street firms, and now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
    The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.
    If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.
    The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president and all of our economic future depends on them reorganizing these companies right.
    Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Sterns have survived for over 150 years and survived even the great depression. They are important because they’re the biggest engines of growth in America and are connected to everything, not to mention AIG the largest insurance company in the world.
    Never in our lives have so many vital companies gone under in a 4 week period.
    Already one out of 10 Americans is somewhere in the foreclosure process.
    During the last 8 years the average person saw there salary drop instead
    Of increase. These are all facts no one will argue with. The truth is we are only in the start of the worst economy we have seen in our generation and a very real possibility of another depression. Bush just like McCain doesn't understand the economy, that’s not just my opinion it’s his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it
    He does not understand exactly what is broken. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t. The people that make up these securities use complex math models very few people understand. Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us. Banks took huge risks and now we have spent 800 billion to bail them out that’s about 2000 to 3000 for every family in the U.S. we are the ones that are suffering and we have every right to hold the administration and Wall Street accountable since we are paying for it. It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. The same things Bush and McCain Have done for the last 8 years created this mess and can h only make it much worse.
    If you do what you have always done then you will do get what you have always
    90 percent of the time they have voted the same. So why are the polls even close then? The chairman of McCain’s campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell personality instead of results.
    He believes you can be sold into voting against your own best interest with personality.
    McCain admits in the year 2008 he cannot use a computer even for something easy like email which any 10 year old can do. In this mess that should pretty much disqualify him right there
    We are not bulletproof America it time to wake up and hold these people accountable. Lets stand up and fight for our country now while it will still make a difference Lets elect Obama Biden 08.

    Posted by ObamaBidenNOW September 18, 08 07:55 PM
  1. Look deeper you find economic advisors
    from the same school as Bush’s “economic
    advisors” in his camp.

    Harold P Boushell

    Posted by Harold P Boushell September 18, 08 08:25 PM
  1. It’s easy to blame the collapse of the two largest mortgage lending giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on the consumer for chasing the American Dream and taking on more house than they could afford.

    The Treasury Department has demanded the current CEO’s step down. Certainly those at the wheel have to bear some responsibility. But the pillaging was already in their rear view mirrors. Three of the main characters in this fiasco have strong ties to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

    As Fannie Mae’s CEO (1999 to 2003), Franklin Raines pulled in over $90 Million, mostly in bonuses. He was sued by the SEC and OFHEO to recover $50 Million in bonuses due to Enron-like accounting practices overstating their earnings by $10.6 Billion. Franklin took “early retirement”, paid a hefty fine and forfeited stock options valued at $15.6 Million. He is now Obama’s economic advisor for housing policy.
    Jamie Gorelick was vice-chairperson at Fannie. In 1998, she received a bonus of $779,625 amidst a scandal where signatures were falsified on accounting transactions to meet earning targets. She is a leading candidate for Attorney General if Obama is elected president.

    Jim Johnson was Raines’ predecessor at Fannie. He resigned from Obama’s VP selection committee after revelations he accepted a sweetheart loan from Countrywide Financial while Fannie’s CEO.

    As taxpayers, we are now liable for failures in a $5.2 Trillion loan portfolio to include $780 Billion in high-risk “Alt-A” and sub-prime loans. These are Friends of Barack we can ill afford!

    Posted by No Friend of Barack September 18, 08 09:08 PM
  1. The facts are in … and they’re absolutely shocking! The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle (or should we say “Freddie Barack and Fannie Obama failure”) is actually a Clinton creation with Democratic Party fingerprints and DNA all over it. Former Clinton officials running the operations, close ties to Democrats (particularly the Black Congressional Caucus), generous donations to Senators Dodd, Kerry, Obama and Clinton. Hmm… so who’s been looking the other way and obstructing oversight these past eight years?

    There’s an old thief’s trick: when you’re in danger of being discovered, you just point your finger and say: “He went that-a-way!”. While Bush can be blamed for many things… the Democrats own the present Wall Street crisis through and through. God forbid they get into the White House.

    Posted by Andrew Onu September 18, 08 10:28 PM

  1. Obama learned how to score on real estate from his buddy in prison Tony Rezko (just as Hillary Clinton stated in her debate).

    Obama learned how to hate America from his favorite pastor, Rev Wright.

    Obama learned how to terrorize America from his close supporter, Bill Ayers (just as Hillary Clinton stated.)

    Now we find Obama learned how to pillage Fannie Mae from Franklin Raines...

    Posted by Rezko To Raines September 18, 08 10:34 PM
  1. The claims against Obama in the comments section of this site are simply risible, particularly considering the fact McCain's campaign manager and one of his top advisors served as lobbyists on behalf of Fannie and Freddie.

    Simply risible.

    Posted by dindi September 18, 08 11:57 PM
  1. Where is Ron Paul when you need him...sheesh. I want the government as much out of my life as possible. Let's get back to the constitution, people! Government should not be TOUCHING private enterprise; should not be requiring companies to loan to people who aren't qualified, should not be guaranteeing loans! Risk taking with no consequences (government bailing you out) is exactly why our economy is in shambles. It's just that simple, and just that complex. Since Paul is out, I will be voting for the lesser of 2 evils; the one who doesn't condone infanticide. McCain/Palin'08

    Posted by The constitution is dead! September 19, 08 12:49 AM
  1. Obama is a fraud and his Democrat buddies, Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank, et al, supported Fannie Mae's growth as it bought toxic mortgages from stupid lenders who forgot how to analyze loans.

    Fannie Mae certainly deserves plenty of blame for the mortgage meltdown as it facilitated expanding loan volume from the likes of IndyMac, WaMu, and other nitwit banks that allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by deceitful, commission-driven mortgage brokers. Of course, the Democrats blame Bush for everything, but in this case, it's the Democrats in Congress who are culpable.

    Posted by iQuack September 19, 08 03:50 AM
  1. Obviously the ObamaBidenNOW person really doesn't know anything. He talks about McCain not using a computer and that should disqualify him. Hello, McCain can't type because his fingers were broken so many times as a POW.

    ObamaBidenNOW is a real class act.

    Posted by Tom September 19, 08 09:41 AM
  1. LOL James Stevenson you crack me up. It's 'do-good' socialism that created Fannie & Freddie in the first place...they were sold to Wall Street by el BJ to fund Vietnam and because a pillar of long term investment stability which they remained for YEARS (thanks to free market capitalism) until liberals like you got in there and started shaking them down to buy up more risky loans to help Joe Schmoe burger flipper BUY A HOUSE. You and ObamaBidenNow are completely upside down in your understanding of this...but no surprise, liberals never really are expected to know anything about the economy so you get a free pass!

    Posted by Michael September 19, 08 10:56 AM
  1. Wast of time, blind, bitter, and sheltered. I feel sorry for you guys. Liberals don't know any thing. McCains fingers where broken. Fanny Mae is greed upon Obama. What does any of this have to do with anything. These facts are colapsable compared to the real issues of the world. Keep chasing your tails and painting fences colors depending on the weather that day. Take a look at your lives, it's tense and angry. Relax... Obama is just a very smart understanding black male running for president of America. He's not a fabrication of what every you read today or saw on tv to feed your anger. This republican race is a joke, there is to many types of people out there to fall into your creed. Live a little. Obama...change is real, you stagnant lives are boxed in.

    Posted by Scott Haden September 19, 08 12:24 PM
  1. It turns out Sen. John McCain foresaw the impending Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Mortgage Crisis more than two years before it happened, and co-sponsored legislation that would have required greater oversight of the mortgage lending entities. But, of course, that legislation was torpedoed by the Democrats, never making it out of committee. Obama did nothing to speak out at the time in behalf of the legislation, and would not sign on as a co-sponsor. Here's what John McCain said on 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.

    I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

    Now tell me which candidate has any credibility to speak to the crisis of today?

    Posted by Swannie September 19, 08 12:36 PM
  1. Massachusetts, you’re not off the hook either. Your Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) is Fannie Mae’s patron saint and fought these reform attempts tooth and nail.

    In 2003, Frank rejected Bush administration and Congressional Republican efforts for the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis. Under the plan a new agency would have been created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    "These two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis," Frank said. He added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." He remains blind to the whole fiasco.

    In contrast, John McCain warned of the coming mortgage crisis as he pressed in 2005 for regulatory reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    Posted by Barney the Blind September 19, 08 12:46 PM
  1. Obama took $126,349 from Fannie Mae. McCain in 2005 tried to reform Fannie Mae. In 2006 OFHEO reported on the abuses at Fannie Mae. In 2002 Bush admin tried to reform Fannie Mae and Barney Frank said there was no crisis at Fannie Mae and they didn't need any reform. Burton should shut up because his side could really get nailed on this issue. Wonder if Obama will call for throwing Raines, Gorelick, and Johnson in jail and advocate taking away Raines's $90 million in comp and bonuses. Bernie Ebbers and the Enron folks must be kicking themselves for not working for the GSA's as they did the same exact thing as did the GSA management.

    Posted by Kingfish September 19, 08 01:15 PM
  1. Barack accepted $395,600 from Lehman Brothers.

    Posted by Roberto de Westonzuela September 19, 08 01:18 PM
  1. Let's just be practical for 1 minute today. I own a small business. If Obama raises taxes on anyone making over 250k a year, do you think that I am going to suck that up? I can't afford to suck it up. Do you think that any business is going to suck that up? HELL NO! It will get passed on to consumers by increasing the costs or the employees will eat it by layoffs. That's why tax increases do not work! It's ultimately not going to be paid by the people your raising taxes on. It will most certainly be absorbed by the general public. Call it greed or whatever you want. I call it business! If I allow my business to be less profitable at the end of the year for whatever reason, is that better for my employees? is that better for my customers? NO! It's ludacris to think that anyone is going to pay more in taxes and sit back and accept it. This is a major flaw in Obama's economic thinking. Raising taxes for anyone, especially business owners, is a mistake that will cut jobs, it will create wage reductions and layoffs.

    Posted by Lou September 19, 08 01:18 PM
  1. Obama is a radical left wing candidate with no experience. He is surrouned by image makers and protected by the media. If world loves him there is a reason and that is because he is not good for our country. He will say and do anything to get elected and that included loosing a war. Long gone are the days of do what you can do for your country but now it is get in people faces and do what you can for the party. Long gone are the days of my fathers Democratic party. I sure hope the American people wise up and tell the Media to actually vet this unknown candidate. Who is this man and how did he get this far?

    Posted by Philip September 19, 08 02:35 PM
  1. What we see now is a man, an old out of touch man, caught up in a storm. Things are swirling all around him and he doesn't know what to grab onto for stability. Just like the financial disaster he and his Republican friends in Washington all helped create is spinning out of control, so is Mr. "Smear tactics and lies" McCain. Thank God for Obama and Biden, they are the only ones running now that still make sense.

    Posted by Democrats 08 September 19, 08 06:09 PM
  1. Check your facts. Most of what Obama got was from Frannie and Freddie employees in support of him.

    Posted by carolo September 19, 08 09:48 PM
  1. I continue to be utterly amazed at the shear stupidity by the comments posted on sites like this from Liberals. Did you all conveniently forget that the Clinton Administration decided they needed to take homeownership in America from 60% to 70%, and the way to do that was to relax the requirements in mortgage lending. THAT WAS THE TIME THAT FREDDIE AND FANNIE STARTED BUYING SUBPRIME PAPER!!!!! Do your homework, it's all there!

    Posted by crystal September 20, 08 10:25 AM
  1. The McCain ads were distortions of reality. The contributions he called "profits" Obama made from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were from contributions employees of those institutions made to the Obama Campaign, just like when I make a donation to the Obama campaign, I have to say my company and profession. I work for a very right wing republican leaning organization - it's like being a servant to the nazis but a job's a job, anyway - my contributions show up as coming from a right leaning organization because of it.
    He received a bit over 100k in small donations from people who worked for Freddie/Fannie - and his campaign has brought in over 300mil... so we're talking a fraction of a fraction of a percent of his campaign.
    A PURE DISTORTION from the EVIL/Wicked Republicans... i.e. a totally unsurprising action.
    However, if you look up the ACTUAL FACTS... when it comes to donations from Fannie/Freddie Directors, Officers and Lobbiests - Obama got $16k, and McCain got $169K. (For the republicans and others slow to absorb facts - that means that McCain received 10 times the amount of funding from Lobbiests/Officers of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac than Obama).

    Posted by Nic M September 20, 08 09:59 PM
  1. Short and sweet. OBAMA HAS TAKEN MORE MONEY from Fannie Mae than any other senator ...... that is he took money... OFF THE TOP before it went bust.
    Do we not think that RAINES saw it coming? And just maybe when Fannie Mae
    saw it coming they dicided among themselves, Hey before it falls lets just give a BIG CHUNK TO OBAMA, OTHERWISE IT WILL JUST GO BACK TO THE PEOPLE WHO IT BELONGS TO, THE INVESTORS who have a right to it. NO. It went to
    Obama!

    Let's see. His buddies in Washington, they came out just fine. So did the The CEO
    in charge of Fannie Mae. Obama came out fine too. Lots of money. Not his money. THe mislead investor's money. And he is spending the money . He is pretty good at talking about spending someone else's money. He has deep pockets.
    Deep enough to hold your money, my money and the money that is shaved off the top. Not just the very top but a huge slice of the top. His biggest contributors.

    He makes backroom deals with Irans leader. Asking him to hold off an agreement until after the election. Isn't that treason? To do anything that would interfer with peace during a time of war?

    Do you want someone who makes backroom deals with the leader of Iran?

    Do you want a president who makes backroom deals with CEOs to take money off he top before they go bust?

    Do you want someone who makes backroom deals with CEO's to get money off the top before they go broke so he gets his, the CEOs get thiers, and the investors,
    men and women who have put thier money they worked hard for take the loss?

    And since this has been coming for a while, isn't it just possible that even the timing of the fall was just after the Republican party saw a show of support after Palin was chosen. Not possible. Well, John McCain has been talking to Congress about the state of Fannie Mae for a while but with so many hands in the pot the Democratic congress wanted to skim off the money, or slice of the money they wanted for Obama's campaign and then when the time was right, after all they knew it was coming, they sat back with thier pockets full and said. Wow, this is the Republicans fault. They should have known we Democrats have our hands in the kitty! Why would the Democratic Congress put thier hand in the mousetrap.
    They are the rats!

    Just common sense. Not too hard to figure our if you want the truth.
    Sure has the smell of fraud to me. Corruption at its best.
    Dirty hands, dirty politics and a pocket full of coins.....That's Obama.

    Posted by Rebecca Watkins September 21, 08 05:32 PM
  1. James Stevenson,

    Nice quoting of Billary. You're an idiot, just like the corrupt political party you love so much. I hope you rot.

    Posted by William Buckman September 21, 08 08:50 PM
  1. Obama is done after this scandal which he is thick in the middle of .

    Great posts that give the hard facts. He stole from the American people by accepting so much money from Fannie mae.

    Posted by Dan September 22, 08 12:33 PM
  1. I'm an Obama supporter, but based solely on the quote from McCain's cosponsor ship of the 2005 legislation on F's M and M posted above , I give him significant credit. And Obama's taking a lot of cash from the employees is hardly a badge of honor.

    Still, having listened to McCain ad hoc his way on the economy over the last week with ill advised knee jerk responses (some of which are illegal, and some just dumb and dropped as quickly as articulated), I'd rather go with the brighter, pragmatic candidate who's not constitutionally wedded to any particular economic ideology -

    And if, as is statistically really possible, something happened to McCain, I would be terrified to see S Palin at the controls in this situation, much less an international crisis.

    Posted by JBach September 22, 08 05:21 PM
  1. the democrats sponsored the countryside bailout (chris dodd) and they are trying to rush this bailout through and deny responsibility at the same time. anyone can follow this money trail with dodd, kerry, and obama receiving the most contributions.
    In light of the collapse of Fannie and Freddie, both John McCain and Barack Obama now criticize the risk-tolerant regulatory regime that produced the current crisis. But Sen. McCain's criticisms are at least credible, since he has been pointing to systemic risks in the mortgage market and trying to do something about them for years. In contrast, Sen. Obama's conversion as a financial reformer marks a reversal from his actions in previous years, when he did nothing to disturb the status quo. The first head of Mr. Obama's vice-presidential search committee, Jim Johnson, a former chairman of Fannie Mae, was the one who announced Fannie's original affordable-housing program in 1991 -- just as Congress was taking up the first GSE regulatory legislation.

    In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman Richard Shelby. The bill prohibited the GSEs from holding portfolios, and gave their regulator prudential authority (such as setting capital requirements) roughly equivalent to a bank regulator. In light of the current financial crisis, this bill was probably the most important piece of financial regulation before Congress in 2005 and 2006. All the Republicans on the Committee supported the bill, and all the Democrats voted against it. Mr. McCain endorsed the legislation in a speech on the Senate floor. Mr. Obama, like all other Democrats, remained silent.

    Posted by sandy September 23, 08 08:08 PM
  1. Let's see if I can clarify this for those lost in the mists of Obamalot...

    Clinton and cronies establish FM & FM to implement political goals with no respect for market realities by using government power. When predictably, the government-sponsored easy credit started to threaten to implode, with Greenspan's dire warnings of economic danger ahead, the Republicans sponsored a bill to regulate the mess. The Dems, receiving hundreds of thousands from lobbyists, and employees kill the bill on a Party-line vote. Now, like LBJ's utopian sceme of the 60's, everybody will pay dearly.

    But the real fault is the American people's, not just for wanting sweetheart deals on homes while ignoring market realities, but for voting in a Dem. Congress to begin with.

    Posted by BMoon September 24, 08 04:52 PM
  1. Lou....people in corporate America are greedy....do you think lowering taxes for business owners is going to reduce prices in the stores? As a business man you should know PROFIT IS EVERYTHING, so don't sit here and say increasing taxes will hurt everyone because not increasing it and increasing the average joes taxes will not make things any better.

    Posted by Ant September 30, 08 10:55 AM
  1. After following the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac accounting and management practices for years, I am not surprised to see the speed of the bail out bill, by some democrats in congress. ¿Perhaps it's time to cover things up? The FBI must investigate the guys running these troubled financial firms, the people supposedly in charge of supervising them, and surely; all the congresmen that blocked any efforts to put these two giants under fiscal reigns. There is too much money involved and many greedy pockets in this scandal. LET'S INVESTIGATE EVERYONE.

    Posted by Cesar The Greatest September 30, 08 03:32 PM
  1. Freddie and Fannie used huge lobbying budgets and political contributions to keep regulators off their backs.

    A group called the Center for Responsive Politics keeps track of which politicians get Fannie and Freddie political contributions. The top three U.S. senators getting big Fannie and Freddie political bucks were Democrats and No. 2 is Sen. Barack Obama.

    Now remember, he's only been in the Senate four years, but he still managed to grab the No. 2 spot ahead of John Kerry — decades in the Senate — and Chris Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

    Fannie and Freddie have been creations of the congressional Democrats and the Clinton White House, designed to make mortgages available to more people and, as it turns out, some people who couldn't afford them.

    Fannie and Freddie have also been places for big Washington Democrats to go to work in the semi-private sector and pocket millions. The Clinton administration's White House Budget Director Franklin Raines ran Fannie and collected $50 million. Jamie Gorelick — Clinton Justice Department official — worked for Fannie and took home $26 million. Big Democrat Jim Johnson, recently on Obama's VP search committee, has hauled in millions from his Fannie Mae CEO job.

    RelatedColumn Archive
    Barack Obama's Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac ConnectionDoudou Diene Can Go Home NowObama's Iraq JamMad at HillaryBig Oil Meets Big PoliticsFull-page My Word Archive
    Now remember: Obama's ads and stump speeches attack McCain and Republican policies for the current financial turmoil. It is demonstrably not Republican policy and worse, it appears the man attacking McCain — Sen. Obama — was at the head of the line when the piggies lined up at the Fannie and Freddie trough for campaign bucks.
    Sen. Barack Obama: No. 2 on the Fannie/Freddie list of favored politicians after just four short years in the Senate.
    Next time you see that ad, you might notice he fails to mention that part of the Fannie and Freddie problem.

    Posted by Mark Stalls October 1, 08 12:29 PM
  1. It's not just his associates that are corrupt! Obama has thousands of people covering his tracks, and the mainstream media wants him in so bad they'll overlook everything.

    Posted by Drizzit October 1, 08 08:30 PM
  1. Obama has ONLY secured $740 milion in earmarks and pork spending during his first three years in Congress. In 2007 Obama earmarked $1 million for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Most people would say, "so what", but what would you say if you knew the Vice President of the center was his wife Michelle Obama. Before the center received it's windfall of tax payer money she was making $130,000 per year. The day the windfall of tax payer money arrived to the center Michelle Obama received a $200,000 a year pay raise of YOUR tax dollars! In a round about way Obama used your tax dollars to better his life NOT YOURS.Is this legal? Unfortunately, yes. Is it ethical? NO, not in my book. Character??????

    Posted by LCaraway October 9, 08 01:33 PM
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About political intelligence Field reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors covering the 2008 presidential campaign and the national maneuvering of Bay State politicians.

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