Posted on 09/08/2008 2:22:19 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stumbled this weekend when she commented on the federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Huffington Post "helpfully" pointed out her mistake to anyone who missed it the first time around.
Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, as McClatchy reported, "aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies.
The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization."
Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding about one of the key economic issues likely to face the next administration.
"You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country's mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn't speak well for her, I'd say."
- snip-
Palin just got a bit ahead of the facts. Now that the federal government has taken over the companies, taxpayers will likely be on the hook now for maybe hundreds of billions of dollars. Perhanps she was just looking ahead.
(Excerpt) Read more at swamppolitics.com ...
Obviously Fannie and Freddie are expensive to the taxpayers, and that is coming home to roost. Just because that liability hadn't been realized Saturday does not mean it didn't exist.
Those must have been some radical left sources in the article - this is absolutely a HIT PIECE.
“She can defuse this by simply ‘fessing up a poor choice of words. It’s going to be a long two months. “
She will be under an electron microscope during interviews and debates, with the vultures waiting to pounce. Question is, can she maintain the bounce.
Yeah, unfortunately that is true! The "Best of All Worlds" for the executives who have no restrictions on pay, no real oversight, the ability to spend millions for political "Lobbying" (polite...BRIBES), etc.
Despite efforts of some members of Congress to drain this swamp years ago..., they managed to buy votes to maintain their sweetheart deal! Now stockholders and taxpayers alike get a massive screwing!
Just wait until the "Golden Parachute" severance pay packages get paid to the departing culprits! Taxpayers may scream BUT, I am certain that they have well written contracts which will be sustained! Your Guv'mint at it's best!!!
BTW, the most recent "Engineer" in charge of the locomotive when it started going off the tracks was Franklin Raines (former Clinton OMB Director). He sailed off with 100s of millions before it all hit the fan!
Wikipedia: “There is a wide belief that FNMA securities are backed by some sort of implied federal guarantee, and a majority of investors believe that the government would prevent a disastrous default. Vernon L. Smith, 2002 Nobel Laureate in economics, has called FHLMC and FNMA “implicitly taxpayer-backed agencies.” The Economist has referred to “[t]he implicit government guarantee” of FHLMC and FNMA. In testimony before the House and Senate Banking Committee in 2004, Alan Greenspan expressed the belief that Fannie Mae’s (weak) financial position was the result of markets believing that the U.S. Government would never allow Fannie Mae (or Freddie Mac) to fail.”
Greenspan expressed the belief that Fannie Mae’s (weak) financial position was the result of markets believing that the U.S. Government would never allow Fannie Mae (or Freddie Mac) to fail.”
And guess what happened.
What is the going to HS? It just did.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, said during a rally Saturday afternoon in Colorado Springs, Colo., that Fannie and Freddie have "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." She added: "A McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help."
What the O-man said:
Sen. Obama said the rescue also "must protect taxpayers, not bail out the shareholders and management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
It was no gaffe.
Be interesting to see if TV hits on it too tonight.
I don’t know about this article but the Tribune endorses Republican Presidential candidates virtually every time.
Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie, How the youngest HUD secretary caused the mortgage crisis
The liability to the taxpayers has always been there. And this is peanuts to the unfunded social security liability that is only a few years away from bankrupting the country.
It is the leading market-maker in the U.S. secondary mortgage market, which helps to replenish the supply money for mortgages and enables money to be available for housing purchases. As of 2008, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) own or guarantee about half of the U.S.'s $12 trillion mortgage market.
The columnist in this case is a communist. He's big on hit pieces.
It's not a poor choice of words. "Expensive" is much more accurate than "risky".
"While both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are owned by private stockholders, they are really artificial government creations that are very different from real private sector companies. Both companies are remnants of the Great Society, when big government entities were thought to be the only way to achieve social goals. The fact that both were later privatized does not change their essential nature as government-sponsored dominators of a market rather than as participants in it. Both have a history of financial and management irregularities that have caused sudden changes in senior management and often sparked congressional action. Unfortunately, these problems have not resulted in any significant reforms to the overall structure of either entity."
A ‘gaffe’ is when you accidently tell the truth.
U.S. seizes Fannie and Freddie
CNN | 9/7/2008 | David Ellis
Posted on 09/07/2008 9:02:41 AM PDT by CodeToad
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076709/posts
Fanny, Freddie, and Obama (They go way back)
The American Prowler | 9/8/2008 | The Prowler
Posted on 09/08/2008 12:13:06 AM PDT by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077144/posts
Oil’s bounce in price doesn’t add up
Globe and Mail | August 22, 2008 at 6:00 AM EDT | David Parkinson
Posted on 08/22/2008 8:19:03 AM PDT by rightinthemiddle
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066171/posts
London Stock Exchange trading hit by computer crash
(overloaded by short-covering panic?)
Telegraph | 09/08/08 | Jamie Dunkley
Posted on 09/08/2008 3:35:07 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077193/posts
“I thought these were quasi-government/private companies. Not totally private.”
Bingo!
Compared to the Obama campaign which still hasn’t made up its mind whether the takeover was good or not, I’d say this was a blip.
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