Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Fannie-Gate...Where's The Investigation
NRO Online ^ | 9.9.08 | Byron York

Posted on 09/15/2008 6:38:11 PM PDT by paul in cape

If ever there was a need for an investigation or a special prosecutor, Fannie Gate fits the bill. Politics, Democratic corruption, and a laundry list of Clinton pals have cause Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go belly up. How come no one wants to get to the bottom of this. Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Charles Rangel are up to their ears in potential criminal activity. Where are the calls for an Enron-type investigation?


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 110th; byronyork; clintonistas; clintonlegacy; cultureofcorruption; democratscandals; fanniegate; fanniemae; freddiemac; govwatch; housingbubble; probe
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last
Byron York has a great primer on this corruption. A good start would be here.

On May 23, 2006, as a jury in Houston deliberated the case against top Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, a little-known regulatory agency in Washington, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), released a study with the dryly bureaucratic title “Report of the Special Examination of Fannie Mae.” The document received far less attention than the news from Enron, but its conclusions were stunning. In meticulous detail, it outlined a culture of corruption at the Federal National Mortgage Association — better known as Fannie Mae — that rivals the most serious corporate scandals in recent years. In this case, however, the main players are Washington insiders — some of them prominent veterans of the Clinton administration — and the scandal’s effects could ripple through Congress for years.

Fannie Mae is the biggest single source of money for mortgages in the United States. From 1998 to 2004, the years covered by the OFHEO investigation, it was headed by former Clinton budget director Franklin Raines, whose top management team included former Clinton Justice Department official Jamie Gorelick, sometimes mentioned as a future attorney general in a Democratic administration. During that period, the report says, Raines and his team grossly overstated Fannie Mae’s earnings — to the tune of $10.6 billion — for the purpose of paying themselves big bonuses. “By deliberately and intentionally manipulating accounting to hit earnings targets,” the report says, “senior management maximized the bonuses and other executive compensation they received, at the expense of shareholders.”

Article Here

1 posted on 09/15/2008 6:38:11 PM PDT by paul in cape
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Come to think of it, maybe we need a pitbull!


2 posted on 09/15/2008 6:39:44 PM PDT by paul in cape
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Obama’s Economic “advisor”, Frankie Raines, needs to go to jail before he can do anymore damage.


3 posted on 09/15/2008 6:41:23 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer ("Troopergate" - The Revenge of the Alaskan Good Old Boys Club.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape
Thanks for putting this back up - Raines walked away with nearly $100 million, and Dodd, Obama were the 2 largest receivers of their political donation largess...

BUT... it all started with Andrew Cuomo, and the redlining ban...

4 posted on 09/15/2008 6:41:52 PM PDT by xcamel (Conservatives start smart, and get rich, liberals start rich, and get stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Ya got a great tag line going there..


5 posted on 09/15/2008 6:51:41 PM PDT by Conservative4Ever
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape
OFHEO REPORT: FANNIE MAE FAÇADE Fannie Mae Criticized for Earnings Manipulation
6 posted on 09/15/2008 7:00:23 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (don't worry, they only want to take water out of the other guy's side of the bucket.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

BTTT!


7 posted on 09/15/2008 7:05:50 PM PDT by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape
But in the 1990s, the company moved in a much riskier direction. Fannie Mae used its borrowing power to buy up mortgages and hold them, making a profit from the difference between the low price it paid to borrow the money and the higher interest rate it received on the mortgage. It was potentially profitable, but it had nothing to do with helping low- and middle-income people buy houses

But... but... but... the democrat party is the protector of the poor!
8 posted on 09/15/2008 7:08:13 PM PDT by snowrip (Liberal? YOU ARE A SOCIALIST WITH NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Lots of people need to be frog marched off to jail in orange jumpsuits.

Most of Obama’s advisory staff for one thing.

To say nothing of Jamie Gorelick needing serious jail time.


9 posted on 09/15/2008 7:42:30 PM PDT by Carley (she's all out of caribou.............)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Why would they investigate themselves?


10 posted on 09/15/2008 7:45:07 PM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Carley

That Jamie Gorelick has just been a fountain of aid and comfort to this country hasn’t she? Also has managed to feather her own nest in the process evidently. - Clinton - the gift that keeps on giving. - She should have her little Fannie Mae marched out of any more access to government largesse.

We’re sick of this garbage.


11 posted on 09/15/2008 7:58:03 PM PDT by Twinkie (GOVERNOR Sarah Heath Palin, "Charlie" . . . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Twinkie

Gorelick earned $20 million at Fannie.


12 posted on 09/15/2008 7:59:33 PM PDT by Carley (she's all out of caribou.............)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape

Video: Fannie Mae Scandal and Obama’s friends
Youtube ^ | 9/15/08 | cmddrums

Posted on Mon Sep 15 23:27:09 2008 by april15Bendovr

Articles that inform and raise question about Fannie Mae.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083221/posts


13 posted on 09/15/2008 8:57:24 PM PDT by april15Bendovr (Free Republic & Ron Paul Cult = oxymoron)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Twinkie
Gorelick is currently defending the slimeballs at Duke in the lawsuit brought against them by members of the 2006 lacrosse team.

Wonder what Duke thinks of their lead attorney now.

14 posted on 09/15/2008 9:28:05 PM PDT by Ken H
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape
Must see this: Video: Jim Rogers Spouts Off About Fannie & Freddy !

More news reports like this are posted on my freeper page.

15 posted on 09/16/2008 6:31:43 AM PDT by ex-Texan (Ecclesiastes 5:10 - 20)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: snowrip
But in the 1990s, the company moved in a much riskier direction. Fannie Mae used its borrowing power to buy up mortgages and hold them, making a profit from the difference between the low price it paid to borrow the money and the higher interest rate it received on the mortgage. It was potentially profitable, but it had nothing to do with helping low- and middle-income people buy houses

But... but... but... the democrat party is the protector of the poor!

"The Clintons politicized Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and created a monster. Yet another example why giving large amounts of money and power to politicians and bureaucrats almost always results in disaster" by by detective

"The perp list reads like a who's-who of the Clinton administration... Jamie Gorelick, Harold Ickes, Louis Freeh".by SpaceBar

"At some point citizens are going to have to come to grips with the fact that the Mafia has morphed into the Ivy League Mob".by mo

16 posted on 09/16/2008 11:37:06 AM PDT by antonia ("Be the person your dog thinks you are....")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape; All

Here are my own additions:

See my posts:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083040/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083933/posts

and my comments to:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083878/posts


17 posted on 09/16/2008 7:17:42 PM PDT by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape
Dodd got more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than anybody in Congress.

Barack Obama was second in line.

McCain needs to be all over this one. He should be calling on Barack Obama to GIVE BACK THE MONEY. He should beat Obama like a rented mule on this issue for the next two weeks.

The Democrats are going to try to get out in front of this issue. McCain has to tie it to their tails, like Mowgli tied the burning branch to Shere Khan's tail at the end of The Jungle Book. The way to do that is to name names.

Start with Dodd.
Start with Obama.
Start with the Dirty Dozen Senators who got the most money, Democrat or Republican, and let the chips fall where they may.
Start with Jim Johnson, who Obama picked to find a VEEP
Start with Penny Pritzker - National Finance Chair for Obama

McCain is the Maverick. Palin is the Barracuda. McCain and Palin will clean up this mess. McCain will name names and take on the crooks in Congress who got us in this jam. Palin will clean out the vipers nest and introduce transparency and competition, like she did in Alaska with the oil contracts.

That is the theme. McCain and Palin need to hammer it home.

18 posted on 09/17/2008 4:31:45 AM PDT by gridlock (The Democrats have attacked Motherhood. Now if they attack Baseball and Apple Pie, we're all set!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape; All

A new “FannieGate” entry posted today, to add to the set:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084555/posts


19 posted on 09/17/2008 1:15:46 PM PDT by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paul in cape; All

another new FannieGate post today:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084551/posts


20 posted on 09/17/2008 1:19:53 PM PDT by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson