Who's Looking Out For You?

Recent quote from Barack Obama: "We are here because an ethic of irresponsibility has swept through our government, leaving politicians with the belief they can waste billions and billions of your money on no-bid contracts for friends and contributors, slip pork projects into bills during the dead of night and spend billions on corporate tax breaks we can’t afford and old programs we don’t need,” said Obama. He linked the turmoil that’s rocked Wall Street to federal spending he said has soared out of control, laying the blame at the feet of Republican policies he argued that rival John McCain is certain to continue.

An ethic of irresponsibility, Senator Obama?

• Jim Johnson, former Fannie Mae executive and top exec at Lehman Brothers, Obama's current economic advisor.


• Franklin Raines, former head of Fannie Mae, made $90 million in 6 years at Fannie Mae, another of Obama's economic advisors


• Democratic Senator Chris Dodd was the largest single recipient of campaign donations from both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Senator Obama was second.


• Senator Clinton was the largest recipient for Lehman Brothers. Senator Obama was second.

Republican Policies

September 11, 2003 - from an article published in the New York Times:

"The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.
Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios."

Hmm. Who's been the majority in Congress for the last 4 years? Not Republicans.

• In 2005, Charles Hagel (R), Elizabeth Dole (R), John Sununu (R) and John McCain sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005. This reform was defeated by the Democratically controlled Congress. Speaking about this reform in 2006, McCain stated "to underscore my support for quick passage of this, if Congress does not act American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, and the overall financial system and the economy as a whole."
  
  At whose feet should the blame lie?
  

In 1995, Bill Clinton instructed then Secretary of Treasury Robert Ruben to rewrite the rules governing the Community Reinvestment Act (a Carter-era law) to pressure financial institutions to extend loans to riskier borrowers in a generous but short-sighted attempt to curry favor with the liberal base.

This mess started with big government sticking it's nose into the free market. Barack Obama complains of federal spending "soaring out of control", yet he and his party are trying to cram a $700 Billion pill down our throats? Ridiculous. Today, the truly Conservative Republicans in Congress fought to modify this motion from a Bailout to a reasonable plan in which these rescued companies pay the America people back - with interest.

Sounds like the best plan to me. Sounds like we do have some politicians looking out for us after all. And looks like none of them is Barack Obama.