According to the stats on Opensecrets.org it breaks down like this.
The top 3 recipients of Fannie/Freddie money have been:
Chris Dodd $165,400
Barack Obama $126,349
John Kerry $111,000
In the interests of Full Disclosure, John McCain also got money from them.
Since 1998, he received $21,550.
You can see the numbers at OpenSecrets.org Here!
The amazing thing is Obama has only been in the senate for 4 years (2 of them running for President full time) This means, in 4 short years, he's become the #2 favorite of Fannie/Freddie. ($31,587.25 per year! as opposed to $2,155/year for McCain)
When you look at this, and the voting records of these "Leaders", it's pretty easy to see why the dems have been so adamant about blocking any further regulation of F/F until this week.
In 2003, President Bush was pushing for more federal oversight of the two quasi-governmental agencies, he was shouted down by the likes of Dodd, Schumer, Frank, and Kerry. Some spineless republicans went along with the dems to look good to Acorn, and other "Community organizer" groups, but the dissent came mostly from the left.
In 2005 4 senators, and 16 congresscritters co-sponsored the "Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005", Not One democrat is in the list of co-sponsors.
Senate sponsors
Sen. Charles Hagel [R, NE]
Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R, NC]
Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]
Sen. John Sununu [R, NH]
House bill sponsors:
Rep. Richard Baker [R, LA-6]
Rep. Robert Aderholt [R, AL-4]
Rep. James Barrett [R, SC-3]
Rep. Roy Blunt [R, MO-7]
Rep. Geoff Davis [R, KY-4]
Rep. Tom Feeney [R, FL-24]
Rep. E. Scott Garrett [R, NJ-5]
Rep. Paul Gillmor [R, OH-5]
Rep. Jeb Hensarling [R, TX-5]
Rep. Walter Jones [R, NC-3]
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter [R, MI-11]
Rep. Patrick Mchenry [R, NC-10]
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R, FL-18]
Rep. Paul Ryan [R, WI-1]
Rep. Christopher Shays [R, CT-4]
Rep. Frank Wolf [R, VA-10]
During debate over the bill, Barney(I didn't know there was a gay brothel in my house) Frank is quoted as saying:
"These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis, the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."
While we have to admit that there were Linguine spined Republicans who also voted against the bill (so they didn't appear racist) the vast majority of the dissenting voices came from the left side of the aisle.
In fact, Frank & Co. made matters worse by pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take on greater risk. They wanted more loans to people who might not qualify for traditional bank financing. And, as The Wall Street Journal has pointed out, Frank “pressured regulators to ease up on their capital requirements — which now means taxpayers will have to make up that capital shortfall.”
Even now, after the government took the companies over (which Frank repeatedly said over the years was not a possibility), Frank opposes limits on the amount of money they can risk on mortgage backed securities — the one reform that might have done the most to prevent the current meltdown and probably would do the most to keep it from happening again
My Question is, since the dems have repeately blocked efforts by Republicans to get more oversight on taxpayer supported companies, Why are these same democrats suddenly calling for more oversight? Could it be that since it's an election year, they want to Appear to be "fixing" the problem? (C'mon Jackpine, you can't be that jaded can ya?) Yes I can! :op
The left will do all they can to drop this in the lap of the republican party, but while not totally blameless, the republicans have Far Fewer slimy fingerprints on this "Crisis" than the democrats do.
While Barack Obama is trying to spin this to make it look like it's McCain's fault (You should see his commercials here in MI) just by looking at the numbers, it's easy to see that Obama is part of the Problem while McCain was trying to find a Solution.
While I personally believe that we should just let Fannie and Freddie fail on their own, and let the market sort the mess out, it looks like we're all going to be paying for another Dem created mess. (Surprise Surprise)
The next time a Liberal tries to tell you it's all "Bush's Fault", you now have ammunition to fire back. :o)
You're welcome.