Collapse of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac-- Thank a Democrat
Posted by: Ken Campbell | 09/20/2008 11:32 AM
"We recognize that in times of financial exigency, as this clearly is, government often steps in to do what it can to stop the hemorrhaging. Politically, it may not have a choice. But we can't forget that many, if not most, of the problems in the financial sector today are a result of government over-regulation, or misregulation, and political cronyism.
We've already documented how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were used as a jobs program for out-of-work Clinton administration officials and other Democrats, ranging from Franklin Raines to Jamie Gorelick to Jim Johnson.
And how tens of millions of dollars in political donations from those two government-sponsored enterprises distorted decision-making in Congress. This has been the problem all along.
The U.S. government regulates the private sector on behalf of taxpayers who expect competency, fairness and transparency.
But when the federal government messes up, those principles go out the window. And the lender of last resort isn't the Fed or Treasury, as some would have it. It's always the taxpayer.
Remember this when a Democrat-led Congress holds hearings -- as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now promises -- and lambastes "the private sector" and "Bush economic policies" for these market meltdowns. Neither deserves the blame.
President Bush tried to reform Fannie and Freddie in 2004 but was rebuffed. A Democrat-led Congress, with some help from weak GOP members, has made repeated mistakes in turning our world-class financial system into an over-regulated, politicized piggy bank for Democratic causes and candidates (see editorial above).
Virtually all the mistakes have been caused by errors in regulation -- not by "corporate greed," as liberal Democrats would have it. Corporations follow the signals and guidelines set by Washington. When those are faulty, bad things happen and taxpayers pay.
Remember this, too, when Congress cranks up hearings and vilifies one CEO after another for "looting" their companies. It was Congress that created the subprime crisis. Any promises that it makes to solve it should be viewed with serious skepticism."
The link to the rest of this article can be found here. Bear Stearns will be bailed out to the tune of $29 billion. The AIG bail out will be $85 billion, but all that is peanuts compared to the $200 billion bail out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There is tons of blame to go around, but in the case of Fannie and Freddie, Democrats are at the heart of the problem.
In 1997 Republican Jim Leach called for an investigation into the investment practices of Freddie Mac... but liberal Democrat Charlie Rangel blocked the investigation. In 2004 President Bush tried to reform Fannie and Freddie, but again Democrats blocked the reforms. In 2006 Senator John McCain warned about the impending collapse of Fannie and Freddie, "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 who where some of the Democrats that plundered and miss-managed Fannie and Freddie, and left as multi-millionaires? Franklin Raines with OMB in the Clinton White House before he became CEO of Fannie, he made out with close to $100 million. Raines is a real gem, for more information click here. Now Raines is an economic advisor to Barack Obama... so much for change and competency. Jamie Gorelick, Janet Reno's aid, was the Clinton hack that built the "wall" between law enforcement organizations so they could not share information to discover the 911 plot. Gorelick made out with $75 million. (Speaking of 911, Sandy Burger, who was viewing top-secret documents and some how found them in his pants outside the building, so he destroyed them... Burger is Obama's security advisor.) Jim Johnson, another Clinton hack, also enriched himself. Johnson headed up Obama's committee to pick a VP candidate.
So why is this important for all of us?? Well if you have a retirement account invested in the stock market, which is most of us, you have lost lots of money-- money you worked hard for and set aside for retirement. And guess what, the public employees retirement accounts have also lost money and guess who ultimately picks up the bill... we do, taxpayers. In addition when the Federal government spends taxpayer's money we ultimately pay by higher taxes or an inflated currency (due to the Feds printing money). Your wallet is much lighter.
This is important for the 4thCD because if you want another Nancy Pelosi clone who will fit nicely into the Democrat machinery in Washington, elect Charlie Brown. If you are tired of being played as a sucker by Washington politicians whose only goal is to enrich themselves, vote for Tom McClintock.... and let's clean up the mess!
Women's right to vote didn't exist until they fought for it. Blacks rights for equality didn't happen until...
Ken - glad to see you back posting regularly.
In 2003 and 2005, Bush attempted to undo some of the laws passed during the Clinton administration... laws that would have averted some of the abuses...
Moderate (Doug Ose) Republicans and Democrats thwarted the efforts. They apparently could not see past those $2000 checks to the best interests of America.
Thank God McCain's campaign has NOT missed this opportunity... McCain has been on the warpath.
McCain supported both of those attempts by the Bush Administration for reform.
I have gotten so much industry stuff it would make your head spin on this.
Democrats created the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problems years ago, in a well intentioned but failed effort to allow low income groups to buy houses. They stopped ALL eforts at reform until it was too late. Now they are trying to blame Bush, McCain and Republicans, everyone but themselves. That's the Gods truth and here is the proof:
http://strategicthought-charles77.blogspot.com/2008/09/democrats-created-fannie-mae-and.html