On Freddie And Fannie Lobbying Congress To Be Left Alone

Freddie and Fannie have spent over $200 million lobbying Congress in recent years to leave them alone and outside federally mandated government oversight/regulation.

Obama received more of that lobbying money than any other legislator on the Hill, save for Sen.Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Banking committee that was in charge of regulating Fannie and Freedie. Some regulation!

McCain, speaking at a Townhall meeting in Iowa last week had this to say of the mess:

"Senator Obama talks a tough game on the financial markets but the facts tell a different story. He took more money from Fannie and Freddie than any senator but the Democratic chairman of the committee that regulates them. 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."

"When AIG was bailed out, I didn’t like it, but I understood it needed to be done to protect hard working Americans with insurance policies and annuities. Senator Obama didn’t take a position. On the biggest issue of the day, he didn’t know what to think."

All this goes to show, Obama is an empty suit in a time that calls for him to define himself. It also shows that all laws in Congress legalizing regulation are only as good as the will to enforce them. There are always lobbyists that will lobby to limit whatever laws are on the books for their special interest. No exceptions.

Now the Feds are bailing out the Fannie/Freddie urchins with no conditions (!!??). What's wrong with this picture? The WSJ people agree:



Do we really think Obama represents courageous change, or just more-of-the-same or worse? Surely we know the answer to this. John McCain sure does.