Freddie Mac secretly paid firm to slow regulation 3 years before collapse

The Associated Press ^ | Monday, October 20, 2008 | Pete Yost

[Arrowhead1952]

WASHINGTON – Freddie Mac secretly paid a consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

Republican senators and a regulatory overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., were targeted by the firm DCI of Washington.

All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.

During DCI's yearlong effort, Mr. Hagel and 25 other Republican senators pleaded unsuccessfully with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to allow a vote.

--------- Mr. McCain, R-Ariz., was not a target of the DCI campaign. He signed Mr. Hagel's letter and three weeks later signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

--------- Mr. Obama has received $120,349 in political donations from employees of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; Mr. McCain, $21,550.

---------- Last month, the concerns of the 26 Republican senators who signed Mr. Hagel's bill became real when the government seized control of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae amid their near financial collapse. Federal prosecutors are investigating accounting, disclosure and corporate governance issues at both companies, which own or guarantee more than $5 trillion in mortgages, roughly half of the national debt.

[Arrowhead1952]

I heard about this on KLBJ in Austin yesterday. See the link for the entire article. Very interesting.

[SlowBoat407]

Barack Obama will be praised for keeping a promise made to a contributor.

[GOPJ]

Freddie and Fannie are where all the loser dems retire to - and the collapse stated with them - the collapse that might bring in dem President. How thuggy is that?

[downwdims]

Much like how if Powell endorsed McCain he’d be an old Bushite Oreo, but if he endorses Obama he’s a kick ass Maverick

[Just mythoughts]

Hillary was to be the benefactor of the financial crisis, remember Bman had not even gotten in her rear view mirror when all this was being formulated. I remember Hillary's Hoover economy rant and her warning her CT investor class about coming hard times.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This article (shockingly, written by the AP) confirms two things:

1. The Dems are corrupt to the core and block needed reforms.

2. The GOP leadership was breath-takingly incompetent when it was in charge.

[Realism]

Every wher you turn, BS around every corner.

Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients--not the most convenient association for a candidate who's already struggling to reconcile his reputation as an anti-special interests crusader with the sizable number of lobbyists on his senior staff. Further complicating matters: Isikoff's revelation that DCI was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, leading "a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing 'falsehoods' by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses."

[Boiling Pots]

Yawn, back pages.

Now, back to that nasty tone McCain has set...

[Realism]

DCI’s chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain’s campaign later hired to manage the GOP convention in September.

[Delta 21]

$2,000,000

Thats just walkin’ around money.

[Arrowhead1952]

This article (shockingly, written by the AP)

That is what got me too. It's not often the AP will publish anything this bad. Of course, they had BOTH parties to blame.

[Arrowhead1952]

It’s not like everyone has $2 million, unless you are the BO with all those campaign “donations”.

[GOPJ]

bttt