Posted on 09/24/2008 6:17:25 PM PDT by Kaslin
It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the mortgage market. They are costing taxpayers billions through their own bailouts and through the role they played in fueling an artificial mortgage boom.
But eight years ago, when I testified before Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "special privileges create a serious hazard to the market, to taxpayers (and) to the economy," my criticism of these sacred financial entities was met with ridicule.
At the hearing on June 21, 2000, before the House Financial Services Committee, I called the government-sponsored enterprises "strange organizations, neither private- sector fish nor political-sector fowl" and said that "as a result, no one is quite sure how these entities should be evaluated or held accountable."
I offered my opinion that the rapid growth of their debt portfolios and the new risks Fannie and Freddie were taking on — such as the purchase of various unproven mortgage instruments — "will certainly increase the likelihood of a Fannie-Freddie default."
The Martians Are Coming!
Reviewing the hearing transcript, I see that some congressmen, notably Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Richard Baker of Louisiana, shared my concerns. But to boosters of the mortgage giants from both parties, it was as if I and others at the hearing offering similar warnings on behalf of the free-market National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste were heralding an invasion from outer space.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Is she working for Freddy MaC?
Churchill was ridiculed in the 1930s for suggesting that Hitler was a threat to Europe.
Do to the very nature of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, can’t they restrict/stop lobbyist money from going to pols? Does the Post Office make donations to politicians for example?
apparently so. I read about it on here a couple of days ago. Can’t remember the thread
i believe that political donations from a u.s. government org such as the post office to be illegal.
that’s the point:
freddy and fanny are quasi-government institutions—part public, part private.
the donations from them to obamao, hillary, dodd, etc were possible because of this.
Somewhere in Heaven, Milton Freidman is chuckling.
I hope they name the names of the guilty on LIVE television and force the newspapers to print every name of every person who has or who will benefit financially from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
And http://www1.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/economic_cleanup_10887.htmlc Dave Ramsey’s Plan has my vote.
..."the [GSE] model of privatization of profit, yet socialization of risk, is unsustainable."
I still forget Milton is gone. A major hero of mine from when i was a kid. I was an odd kid. But all of this is so interesting to me because we ought to let it all fail, come what may, and let nature take its course. That’s what friedman was all about. Organic capitalism always works
Reminds me of myself.
Reminds me of myself.
I like you!
Well, thanks, and anyone who has such a classic photo of Bill Buckley is a friend of mine, not to mention a freeper with an art degree, or more importantly, any artist who is a freeper.
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