In 2004, after a tip from a whistle blower who was later fired, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (Ofheo) issued a report finding that the government-sponsored entity Fannie Mae had engaged in Enron-like accounting machinations that allowed Fannie to overstate its earnings and underestimate the risk the company faced. The accounting wizardry Fannie engaged in was designed so that Fannie could meet profit targets to maximize bonus payments to company executives like Clinton administration deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick and Carter administration assistant director for domestic policy Franklin Raines. For years, conservatives have been critical of how Fannie, and Freddie Mac, have leveraged their government-sponsored advantages (including exemptions from state and federal taxes, lower capital requirements, and the ability to borrow at rates well below those paid by private companies), to create a co-monopoly in the housing finance sector. When Fannie"s accounting scandal came to light in 2004, conservatives pushed hard for reforms to phase out Fannie and Freddie. Led by former Walter Mondale and Barack Obama campaign adviser James Johnson, Fannie and Freddie pushed back hard, raising millions of dollars for members of the relevant oversight committees and opening up "Partnership Offices" that funneled money into various housing projects in districts of key members of Congress.
Fannie also bought off activist groups such as the corrupt Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which has been indicted, multiple times across the country, for vote fraud (Obama worked closely with ACORN as a street organizer in Chicago). Fannie"s lobbying efforts paid off as liberal politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. William Clay (D-Mo.) worked to kill any real reform of Freddie and Fannie. The Washington Post reports: "In an internal memo in 2004, Fannie Mae executive Daniel H. Mudd affirmed what the company"s critics had long contended: In the political arena, "we always won" and "we took no prisoners.""
Fannie was created during the New Deal to make homes more affordable for lower- and middle-income Americans. Freddie was added years later for the same purpose. Fannie and Freddie have long outlived their purpose as the market for repackaging loans as securities is now well developed. When the housing market is booming, they are not needed, and they have both gone well beyond their original mission and are now backing loans for wealthy (witness Speaker Nancy Pelosi"s continued efforts to raise the cap on the size of the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy).
Many parts of the bill the Senate passed last week only continue the worst aspects of the crony capitalism at the hard of Freddie"s success. This is especially true of the Community Development Block Grant funds that have long been a goal of partisan housing activist groups like ACORN. There is an opportunity here to use the recapitalization the White House is now proposing to re-organize housing finance by breaking up Fannie and Freddie and creating several smaller truly private entities that can compete.
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John Adams The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Just keeps revolving around Clinton and friends. I can't wait to see hpow the Chinese interests he gave or sold off are going to hit us . I hate politticians, but would like to be on one of their short lists as friends! I could be livin ;large
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"There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and delusions of oratory." --American author and humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Hey, Its a known fact that Freddie and Fannie are a creation of the Bush administration....Well known
Try using google before you post something stupid like this.
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John Adams The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Hey, Its a known fact that Freddie and Fannie are a creation of the Bush administration....Well known
Try using google before you post something stupid like this.
LOL, is that the best response you can come up with. I don't need Google to know the truth. You surely have not forgotten that the architect of McCains economic plan was the now disgraced Phil Gramm. How about the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act? Phil Gramm, is the law that deregulated banking and allowed the explosion of financial derivatives that led to the current crisis. McCain voted for the bill. Gramm slipped an Enron-backed provision into the commodities futures modernization act that exempted from regulation energy trading. As now, you can see what happens....S&L Bailout, Enron, Fannie and Freddie, all caused by the same policies that you defend. Let the corruption run rampant if you want no regulations, but don't ask me the tax payer to help. 8 years of Bush, 10 years of Republican congress and senate, and look at our economy and country. Anyone who votes for McCain and the Republicans gets what they deserve.
Hey, Its a known fact that Freddie and Fannie are a creation of the Bush administration....Well known
Try using google before you post something stupid like this.
LOL, is that the best response you can come up with. I don't need Google to know the truth. You surely have not forgotten that the architect of McCains economic plan was the now disgraced Phil Gramm. How about the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act? Phil Gramm, is the law that deregulated banking and allowed the explosion of financial derivatives that led to the current crisis. McCain voted for the bill. Gramm slipped an Enron-backed provision into the commodities futures modernization act that exempted from regulation energy trading. As now, you can see what happens....S&L Bailout, Enron, Fannie and Freddie, all caused by the same policies that you defend. Let the corruption run rampant if you want no regulations, but don't ask me the tax payer to help. 8 years of Bush, 10 years of Republican congress and senate, and look at our economy and country. Anyone who votes for McCain and the Republicans gets what they deserve.
Yes, it's very obvious you do need google. Once again, we're talking Fannie and Freddie. Government regulation got us into this mess. Congress regulated them, congress pushed selling to people who could afford the homes, congress puched for higher conforming loans.
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John Adams The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
You need to re-read my post, the problem is no regulation, thanks to your Hero Phil Gramm
Nice try. Funny, you mention Enrone and investigations were launched and people went to jail. Why aren't the Dem's like youself demanding an investigation? No you need to reread the article. The facts are right there. Fannie and freddie ARE government regulated because the government owned part of them. BTW, who's capaign is right up there at the top of the list receiving donations? Who's campaign relied on Raines?
going forward, what's Obama's plan? McCain's plan is to break them up and sell them off to the private sector so we the tax payers can get some of our money back. This won't sit well with the Dem's because it get's rid of their slush fund.
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John Adams The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
The information you need to hunt for!
Posted July 14th, 2008 at 9.26am in 
Hey, Its a known fact that Freddie and Fannie are a creation of the Bush administration....Well known
