 | McCain Tried To Reform Fannie Mae But Stopped By Dems http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190 The Republicans have been trying to tighten the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sense 2002, but they were blocked by the Democrats at every step. The question that you should be ask yourself is why. Could this be the reason; Some of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008 Sen. Dodd, Christopher J - $165,400 Sen. Obama, Barack - $126,349 Sen. Kerry, John - $111,000 Sen. McCain, John - $21,550 http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html McCain was constantly on their case trying to impose some common sense regulation on them, so that would explain the relatively small amount of money that he received from them. There is no way that the Democrats are going to be able to hang this one on the Republicans, the fact speak for themselves. FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005 Senator John McCain; "Mr. President, this week Fannie Maes regulator reported that the companys quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were illusions deliberately and systematically created by the companys senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversights 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 Maes former chief executive officer, OFHEOs 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 regulators examination of the companys 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 Macknown as Government-sponsored entities or GSEsand the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEOs report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEOs 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." |
 | McCain Ad - Advice - Attacking Obama The general co-chairman of John McCains presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to todays economic turmoil. A regulatory structure set up for banks in the 1930s needed to change because the nature of business had changed, the Illinois senator running for president said in a New York economic speech. But by the time [it] was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework. Gramms role in the swift and dramatic recent restructuring of the nations investment houses and practices didnt stop there. A year after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the old regulations, Swiss Bank UBS gobbled up brokerage house Paine Weber. Two years later, Gramm settled in as a vice chairman of UBSs new investment banking arm. Later, he became a major player in its government affairs operation. According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006. |
 | Pfotenhauer defends McCain's lobbyists 05/19/08 MSNBC "MSNBC Live" 05/19/08 DAVID SCHUSTER: [...] Is there any difference between John McCain and president bush when it comes to our policies on Iran and our policies on Iraq? NANCY PFOTENHAUER: Well, I think, clearly there are differences on our policies in Iraq. As you're aware, David, that particularly in the first three years of the war, Senator— SCHUSTER: [...] I meant going forward from this point. From this point on, looking ahead, is there any difference in [their] policies? PFOTENHAUER: Well, I know Senator McCain believes that the surge is working and wants to follow the lead of general petraeus. I can't speak for president bush. But Senator McCain's been pretty clear that he believes the surge is working. And, in fact, in his speech earlier this week, has mentioned that he thinks we'll make so much progress we'll be able to dramatically reduce troop levels in Iraq by 2013. SCHUSTER: Nancy, there was news in terms of the lobbyist issue of the McCain campaign. Now a fifth advisor is gone because of lobbyist ties. And here's what barack Obama said about that today. Watch. [begin video clip] BARACK OBAMA: The fact is, John McCain's campaign s being run by washington lobbyists and paid for with their money. Senator McCain has been a candidate in this race for more than a year. But it was only in the last few days, when stories surfaced publicly about his lobbyist aides and their clients, that Senator McCain took action to curb their role. [end video clip] SCHUSTER: Nancy, why is it that just in the last couple of days some of these lobbyists have been shown the door? PFOTENHAUER: I think it's fascinating to me—and I'm sorry not to answer you directly, David, I'll get to it—but it's fascinating to me that Senator Obama's getting away with this. He hasn't even released his list of advisors. It's a total double standard. Even though he admits that he's got paid lobbyists [...] on the rolls, if you will. We know he's got some problems because I can name at least one, Greg Craig, who's a partner at Williams & Connelly, who is a senior foreign policy adviser, who has pledged to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for him at the same time that he's representing clients like the President of— SCHUSTER: Fair enough. I promise that the next time we have an Obama surrogate, I'll is about Greg Craig, and I'll ask about why they haven't released the list [...] But back to the issue of why is it just in the last couple of days that John McCain has decided only now is the time to take care of the lobbyist problems that he sees? PFOTENHAUER: Look, Sen McCain acknowledged that we need to be very, very careful about the way we act in the appearance of what we do. And so he's put in place, literally, the strictest standards that have ever been in place in a presidential election. I've never seen anything like them. And I'd be happy to sort of go through the various parameters. But the important thing here is we'd like to challenge Sen Obama to adopt the same policies and to go public with who his advisers are. And then to follow the same policies so that the American people can be sure about where those policies are, what the origin of those policies are, and that the President's commitment is to serving them, not any special interest. SCHUSTER: Nancy, speaking of public policy and going public, is there any backing down from the McCain campaign as far as not releasing the McCain family tax returns, specifically Cindy McCain's tax returns? PFOTENHAUER: That is Mrs. McCain's decision. And I think she's been pretty articulate about it. And she says she's a private individual. They've never even filed joint returns, and, therefore, she has no plans to release them. I'm okay with that. But, you know, I tend to be a fairly libertarian individual. If that's her perspective, then that's fine with me. And it would be fine wit me the Obamas had not filed joint returns if michelle Obama didn't want do disclose hers either. SCHUSTER: (laughs) That's pretty creative, considering they've already released their returns. In any case-- PFOTENHAUER: I'm saying, that, you know, you asking me personally, and I have no problem. If it's her individual return, if she decides not to disclose it, that's fine with me—Republican or Democrat. |
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![Don\](images/articles/thumbs/beachrainthumb.jpg "Don\")
