Free Republic

Why Biden thinks the Chinese Communists are “not bad folks” and “not competition for us.” “Biden Gets China,” headlined the January 2, 2012 report in The Atlantic. As author Steve Clemons explained, “Vice President Joe Biden will take the lead on the administrations next phase China policy.” This marked a shift to a “strategy of engagement with Biden at the top,” that allows the US to deal with China’s likely next president from a Vice President to a Vice President/Next President status -- and to continue both the Departments of State’s and Treasury’s ongoing engagement with other designated key Chinese...

May 26, 2006 Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for...

recognize as much as $2.8 billion in additional losses on its derivatives portfolio because of new accounting concerns recently raised by its chief regulator, according to people familiar with the matter. Those losses would come on top of the estimated $9.18 billion in losses related to derivatives that the mortgage giant already has said it will have to recognize as part of its still-unfinished financial restatement. If Fannie has to recognize the full $2.8 billion in additional losses, that would bring the potential size of its restatement to nearly $12 billion, further chipping into the company's regulatory capital. Fannie's regulator,...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - Fannie Mae, the housing-finance giant, for years has fended off critics who contend that the company is too big, too powerful and too risky. But the Securities and Exchange Commission's Wednesday ruling, that Fannie Mae had seriously breached accounting rules, could touch off a chain reaction that results in stricter government controls, legislation limiting its growth and possibly even a change in top management. Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike demanded on Thursday that senior executives, including the chief executive, Franklin D. Raines, return tens of millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation that they had...

For years, mortgage giant Fannie Mae has produced smoothly growing earnings. And for years, observers have wondered how Fannie could manage its inherently risky portfolio without a whiff of volatility.... The magnitude of Fannie's machinations is stunning, and in two key areas in particular they deserve to be better understood. By improperly delaying the recognition of income, it created a cookie jar of reserves.... Lower rates caused a lot of mortgage holders to prepay their existing home mortgages. And Fannie was suddenly facing an estimated expense of $400 million. Well, in its wisdom, Fannie decided to recognize only $200 million,...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Internal Revenue Service and Labor Department are now investigating Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) and issues surrounding its retirement plan and certain derivatives transactions, which could result in an additional tax bill of up to $750 million, plus interest. The company quietly posted the information on its Web site in a Sept. 25 information supplement, which was first reported by Federal Financial Analytics in its GSE Activity Report Tuesday. Spokesmen for the IRS and U.S. Labor Department declined to comment about the matter. The company, in its monthly disclosure that supplement its annual financial statements, said the...