Ok - so this is going to be a bit of a cop out. But, I wanted to at least get this out here as I had promised. Part III is supposed to discuss the connections between key Fannie and Freddie executives and board members with Congressional leaders and/or members of the Executive Branch. Part IV is supposed to allow me to rant and rave on the whole issue.
Well, a lot of time and bailouts have happened since this all started. We've been discussing related issues on this blog a lot lately, and I need to get on to reviewing (most) all the races here in Indiana. That will take some time. So, I want to get the Fannie/Freddie situation out of the way.
So, in terms of connections... you've probably heard about all the money that flows from Fannie and Freddie employees to Congressional candidates. I'm taking some shortcuts tonight, so please read the following links at your discretion. I received these in one of my updates from OpenSecrets.org during the week of the bailout.
Contributions
Investments
From July
Dems Lead
Freddie Summary
In looking at some of the data available with a little bit more detail, it doesn't appear that any particular member of Congress truly depended on Fannie and Freddie to fund their campaign. While Obama has received a lot of money from them, you have to remember two things. First, Obama has received a lot of money from a lot of people. Second, the contributions are from any employee at the company - not just the executives.
That all being said, there are some other things that, if I had all the time in the world, I'd try to research further. I'd want to review the current and former board members of the companies and look for precarious relationships. I searched quite a bit a week or two ago for a comprehensive list of former board members to no avail. However, two names of particular interest have made their way into my ears: Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Harold Ickes. I finally stumbled upon this article which summarizes the connections quite well. Wow.
So, what do I think about all of this? Well, that's probably pretty easy to surmise. The entangled web of politics and greed is disturbing. This messy web in particular has, in some form, contributed to a major economic meltdown across the entire "civilized" world.
I'll concentrate my next several (or more) posts toward the elections on November 4. I may try to put some other stuff on the page like a survey or something. Keep coming back... keep posting comments... let me know what else you'd like to see on the blog. (P.S. - we got our laptop back!)
3 comments:
Re Fannie, Freddie's ties:
These are Republicans:
Susan Hirschmann, outside lobbyist: Chief-of-staff to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas
Michael J. Bates, outside lobbyist: Campaign official for President Reagan, presidential candidate Bob Dole, President Bush.
And, according to OpenSecrets.com
Freddie Mac gave $9.76 million to political candidates from 1990 through early 2008, 57% to REPUBLICANS. Fannie does not have similar figures because OpenSecrets does not consider it to be a major contributor. (The $180,000 or so that Obama got from Fannie was from individuals who work for Fannie, not from Fannie itself.)
But OpenSecrets does consider the American Bankers Association to be a major contributor. The Bankers Association gave $20.24 million to candidates from 1990 through 2008, 59% to REPUBLICANS.
Sorry if you thought I was implying that the Democrats were more "in bed" with F/F than the Republicans.
The entire system in Washington is problematic.
That said, I haven't yet developed a cohesive approach to campaign financing which I think is better.
Not all of Obama's money cam from rank-and-file employees, though: http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?capcode=h24np&name=&employ=Fannie&cand=Obama&state=&zip=&all=N&old=N&c2008=Y&c2006=N&c2004=N&sort=N&page=&page=3 and http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=&state=&zip=&employ=freddie&cand=obama&c2008=Y&sort=N&capcode=jtb4b&submit=Submit.
That is a thoughtful reply.
Still, it seems to hammer Obama for $180,000.
I just read that Republican Senator John Sununu received $1.2 MILLION from Wall Street investment banks during his six years as senator, and he is not even running for president.
In the last month alone, Obama raised $150 million!
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