Barack Obama, John McCain, and Fannie and Freddie
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
The recent troubles for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have raised the possibility that perhaps these quasi-public financial giants have grown too big for anybody’s good. Holman Jenkins Jr., writing in the Wall Street Journal this week, suggests, ‘With Fannie and Freddie on the ropes politically, let’s put them on a path to privatization and liquidation.’
Reality check: Not gonna happen. Both presidential candidates are deep in the embrace of the two-headed lobbying machine known as Fannie and Freddie. From today’s L.A. Times story about conservative pressure on John McCain (pictured) to push for a fig leaf of reform in the way Fannie and Freddie operate:
McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, was president of an organization, the Homeownership Alliance, that advocates for expansion of low-interest loans funded by the two mortgage giants. Federal records show that Arthur Culvahouse Jr., who is heading McCain’s vice presidential search effort, was a lobbyist for Fannie Mae. Former U.S. Sen Warren Rudman, a McCain advisor, was hired by Fannie Mae to lead an internal review of the company’s accounting policies that concluded in 2006.
On Barack Obama:
Until recently, one of Obama’s advisors on vice presidential selection was James A. Johnson, who once led Fannie Mae. Obama has been one of the largest recipients of campaign contributions from donors associated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, receiving $105,849 since he first ran for national office four years ago. That made him the third-largest recipient among the top 25 listed in a recent report by the Center for Responsive Politics, which looked at contributions dating to 1989.
Posted by Peter Viles
Note: Pieter Severynen’s ‘Tree of the Week’ will return next Saturday
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: L.A. Times