Take taxpayers off hook for rot at Fannie, Freddie

Saint Petersburg Times ^ | July 24, 2008 | John McCain

[gpapa]

Americans should be outraged at the latest sweetheart deal in Washington. Congress will put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It's a tribute to what these two institutions — which most Americans have never heard of — have bought with more than $170-million worth of lobbyists in the past decade.

With combined obligations of roughly $5-trillion, the rapid failure of Fannie and Freddie would be a threat to mortgage markets and financial markets as a whole. Because of that threat, I support taking the unfortunate but necessary steps needed to keep the financial troubles at these two companies from further squeezing American families. But let us not forget that the threat that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to financial markets is a tribute to crony capitalism that reflects the power of the Washington establishment.

[AuntB]

Yes, Ma’am.

[dforest]

Oh yes you do. Ain’t that easy dude. The GOP is to blame, not the voters.

[AuntB]

“Gag me AuntB, I wish McCain felt the same way about his fellow American citizens.”

McCain, not unlike Obama, is a citizen of the world. Of all the boneheaded things McCain has said, this bothers me the most.

Interesting statement. May give an indication why he has no special attachment to the sovereignty of this nation and believes illegal aliens have just as much claim to it as the rest of us who are ‘so connected’.

McCain: “I could imagine, with a little envy, what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place; to be part of a community”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017667/posts

And where is McCain today? Not speaking to just any veterans group, but a Hispanic veterans group. Divide and conquer...good grief, when is he going to speak to AMERICANS no matter what ethnic variety?

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9995952

Republican presidential candidate John McCain received a warm welcome and standing ovation from a Hispanic veterans....
McCain closed his speech by expressing gratitude to Hispanic Americans who have contributed to the security of the country.

“I represent Arizona where Spanish was spoken before English was, and where the character and prosperity of our state owes much to the Arizonans of Hispanic descent who live there,” he said. “And I know this country, which I love more than almost anything, would be poorer were we deprived of the patriotism, industry and decency of those millions of Americans whose families came here from Mexico, Central and South America.”

[nkycincinnatikid]

You know if you don’t like a two party system, there is always the Italian, Argentine model. The world ain’t perfect even in the USA.

[dforest]

Well FRiend, I do relly like a two party system as long as there is a difference between the two parties.

Even your very 1st POTUS worried about political parties. For the exact reasons we are now experiencing now.

Oh please, I can tell the world ain’t perfect, but that does not mean we settle for whatever we can get and that means we do not strive for better, or at least what we stood for at the beginning.

[calcowgirl]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/11/1195693.aspx

Here’s what he said 2 weeks ago... definitely a bailout. Not sure what all his toughtalk means now.

Q: On the possible federal intervention for Freddie and Fannie, are they too big to fail? Do you think there needs to be an intervention?

MCCAIN: Those institutions, Fannie and Freddie, have been responsible for millions of Americans to be able to own their own homes, and they will not fail, we will not allow them to fail. They are vital to Americans’ ability to own their own homes. And we will do what’s necessary to make sure that they continue that function. Now having said that, previous evidence and previous information we’ve received clearly dictate that we have much more transparency in the way that they do business. And that way we can gain the kind of information that’s necessary to have them function more effectively and efficiently.

Q: What about moral hazard?

MCCAIN: I think that Freddie and Fannie have a vital role to fulfill and that they cannot and will not fail. There has to be much greater transparency in the way that they do business in order to insure that this kind of difficulties that they’re in is not repeated.

[hripka]

Oh yes you do. Ain’t that easy dude. The GOP is to blame, not the voters.

I read this somewhere:

Pelosi and Kucinich aren't the problem. The problem is the lefties who vote them into office and the righties who provide lefties with social and familial support.

[Toddsterpatriot]

But if a dime of taxpayer money ends up being directly invested, the management and the board should immediately be replaced, multimillion dollar salaries should be cut, and bonuses and other compensation should be eliminated. They should cease all lobbying activities and drop all payments to outside lobbyists. And taxpayers should be first in line for any repayments..... I will get real regulation that limits their ability to borrow, shrinks their size until they are no longer a threat to our economy, and privatizes and eliminates their links to the government.

There may actually be a reason to vote for McCain.

[expat_panama]

"...if a dime of taxpayer money ends up being directly invested..."

Fannie and Fred are publicly traded; meaning every single penny of assets already is taxpayer money.  Maybe the writer wasn't talking about our money getting "invested", but rather "taxed and spent".    Seems that most people these days don't know that the two aren't the same thing...