Obama gets millions from Fannie Mae

So I guess this is why Congress decided not to hold anyone accountable for all of the fraud taking place at Fannie Mae. Lets take a closer look at EXACTLY what is going on, since all of the Democrats like to place 100% of the blame on President Bush.........

First, I realize that not every American might know what Fannie Mae is. In fact, in a brief survey I conducted, most respondents did not know what Fannie Mae was or why it was created. Fannie Mae is a GSE (government sponsored Entity) which is regulated by Congress. It was created in 1997 by President Clinton. What Fannie Mae does is they buy mortgages from other companies and is backed by the American taxpayers for all loses but gets to keep all profits. Once created, President Clinton loosens home loan requirements. This creates subprime lending (lending to those who have less than good credit) and ultimately results in banks, brokers, and mortgage companies making thousands of bad loans ($0 down, low FICO, no documentation, 120%+ financing).

In 1998, executives at Fannie Mae begin receiving HUGE bonues if loan targets are met. Franklin Raines (who now advises Barack Obama on economic policies) and Jamie Garelick are appointed by the Clinton Administration to run Fannie Mae. Between the years of 1999 and 2004 Raines earns $100 million in bonuses and Garelick earns $75 million in bonuses. This goes to show how many bad loans were created if Raines earns $20 million a year in bonuses.

In 2005 President Bush proposes a new oversight committee to clean up Fannie Mae but Democrats in Congress derailed the effort. Rep. Melvyn Watt (D-NC) said, "I don't see much other than weakening the bragaining power of poorer families to get affordable housing." So, when the President proposes a new idea, it has to go through the House or Senate, pass, go to the House if the Senate passed the bill or the Senate if the House proposed the bill, pass again, and then the President has to sign it. In this case a Senator who I'll mention later proposed an oversight committee, which the Democrats derailed. Back to the history lesson.....

Remember the failure of Enron back in 2002? Well, with the collapse of Enron came Congressional investigations and ultimately lead to Skilling and Lay going to jail for fradulent bookkeeping. In response to this Congress formed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which regulated corporations more heavily. Fast forwarding to 2004, an OMB investigation finds massive fradulent bookkeeping at Fannie Mae. False numbers triggered executive bonuses every year. In other words, Raines, Garelick, among other top executives cooked the books so they could earn higher bonuses every year. It's amazing what greed does to people.......sorry, bit of a side note. The shocking part of this....Congress knew about this and held no hearings. No one went to jail and no one was punished. Hmmmmm........why?

From 1999-2005 Fannie Mae paid millions to 354 Congressmen and women from both parties. Fannie Mae also gave millions to Democratic causes.....like ACORN. So....who got the most money? Such a great question....I will tell you.

1) Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). Remember Chris Dodd and his Countrywide Home Loan scandal? Yeah, it's no surprise he's atop of the leaderboard. "Senator" Dodd, once a Presidential candidate, is Chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

2) Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Now, there's a shocker....well, it's hard to be sarcastic online. Corruption and Barack are not unfamilar to each other....that's a topic for a new blog, I guess. Senator Obama is not only the Democratic Nominee for President but is also a member of the Federal Financial Management Committee. Kind scary and sketch, eh?

3) Senator Chuck Shumer (D-NY). Yeah, no surprise there....NY will keep re-electing him because he's liberal. He's also the Chairman of the House Financial Committee.

4) Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). Hmmmm....isn't that funny?! I guess Bill O'Reilly was right about Mr. Frank. Rep. Frank is Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

In 2005 Franklin Raines and other top executives are forced to resign from Fannie Mae. They don't go to jail and there is no media "perp. walk."

Now, remember I said that there was a Senator who took President Bush's idea of an oversight committee to the US Senate? Well, that Senator you may recognize....his name is John McCain (R-AZ). Senator McCain proposed the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act. He stated, "If Congress does not act, American taxpayres will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole." None of the top 4 recipients of Fannie Mae's money (Dodd, Obama, Schumer, and Frank) supported the legistlation. The reform was blocked by Democrats, never making it out of committee.

Ok, so here we are today....Fannie and Freddie are bankrupt and the government has taken them over completely. Lehman Brothers is bankrupt from investing in bad mortgages. AIG gets $85 million in loan guarantees after insuring bad loans and projects. Taxpayers are forced to pay billions in rescue effort. Franklin Raines is now part of the Obama campaign and will advise Obama on economic policies....since, ya know...he did such a wonderful job with Fannie Mae and all. It's no wonder that Obama supports more government takeover of the economy. I guess he just doesn't know.....I mean, did government involvement in the mortgage industry work out? Rhetorical question..... On the contrary, McCain supports revising regulations and loan standards and selling off Fannie and Freddie.

So who should we trust? To me, the choice is clear. On one side we have a man who got millions from Fannie Mae while millions of Americans lost their homes. A man who now has a corrupt leader advising him on economic policy. A man who wants governmental control of the entire economy. On the other side we have a man who has a proven track record for reform and changing things. A man who stands up for what is right . A man who truly cares about Americans and will do what is right so America can navigate though these difficult times. John McCain offers real change and has the record to back it up.