Despite Claims Today He Warned of this Crisis, McCain in 2007 Said He Didn't See This Crisis Coming

I think Tapper is fudging on this. The "update" admitting the proof of McCain's claim is not a minor detail; it changes the reader's conclusions. And why is it so mysterious that a person might see the general potential for a crisis associated with runaway loans yet not prognosticate the specifics, including the scope, of the crisis that has now befallen us (and which the wizards in Washington and at the Fed are frantically fueling with even more uncontrolled credit expansion)? McCain has many faults but his lack of omniscience is, I am afraid, quite universal.

He was also quoted as saying the below statement which is a clear warning.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers 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.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.”

This is the quote from John Mcain during his Senate speech so he did warn about problems with Fannie May and Freddie Mac you can spin it all you want to in this article this is proof and he is on video saying it.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

"republicans couldn't successfully run a zoo"

LOL. Washington is a zoo. 537 specimen and as with any zoo, most of them stink.

Mr. Tapper,
McCain certainly DID warn about Fannie-Freddie, and also co-sponsored the Fair Housing Act of 2005 to implement reform of Fannie-Freddie. Democrats killed that bill. I find it rather astonishing that you are questioning McCain's honesty on this matter, when Obama, who is one of the leading beneficiaries of Fannie-Freddie campaign contributions, also CLAIMS he warned of Fannie-Freddie problems two years ago. I can find ZERO evidence for Obama's claim, and Obama's party explicitly opposed reform of those institutions. Obama has been the ultimate party line voter. If he did get out of lockstep with his own party on this issue, it would be maybe the only time he has done so.

The election campaign should stay on track. Major issues like the global financial crisis or credit crunch, fuel crisis, housing crisis, peace crisis ,climate change,pollution, human rights issues etc etc should not be sideshowed to a Glitz and Glamour "American Idol" Spoof Showpiece debating about who said what about vanilla and chocolate icecream!!!

Too much money spent on pointless adverts may give voters pause about the sense of judgement of Hollywood Showmanship.

With the countdown 0f 46 days left , next week will see the polls shifting either way as voters change allegiance,

The voters confidence will settle in the last 30 days of the campaign and the stronger candidate with clear vision and sound judgement based on single mindedness will decide the electorate vote . Errol Smythe
9/19/2008 1:44:17 PM

The election campaign should stay on track. Major issues like the global financial crisis or credit crunch, fuel crisis, housing crisis, peace crisis ,climate change,pollution, human rights issues etc etc should not be sideshowed to a Glitz and Glamour "American Idol" Spoof Showpiece debating about who said what about vanilla and chocolate icecream!!!

Too much money spent on pointless adverts may give voters pause about the sense of judgement of Hollywood Showmanship.

With the countdown 0f 46 days left , next week will see the polls shifting either way as voters change allegiance,

The voters confidence will settle in the last 30 days of the campaign and the stronger candidate with clear vision and sound judgement based on single mindedness will decide the electorate vote . Errol Smythe
9/19/2008 1:44:17 PM

""But I do rely on a lot of smart people that I have that are both in my employ and acquaintances of mine." - John McCain" ... but that so many of your staff of advisers are corporate lobbyists makes such a proposition tenuous at best, and an outright economic disaster in the making at worst ...

Obama: Didn't see it as a problem

McCain: Tried to protect us but gave up and joined the greed crowd.

Ron Paul: Has been trying to fix the problem since 2002. Sadly, all his "doom and gloom" fell on deaf ears.

McCain is far from perfect, but to claim that he is lying in this case is uncontrolled left-wing craziness.

I hope Obama & Biden can pull through in November!

Dan

kray28:

Gramm-Leach-Bliley passed 90-8-1, President Clinton signed the veto proof bill and that bill became law.

Also if you right wingers want to blame Clinton for signing Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Republicans wanted it so bad, they overrode his veto on it.

Basically every Democrat in the Senate voted against it, while basically every Republican voted for it.

Here's what a prominent economist had to say about it:

Economist Robert Kuttner (among others) has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[7] Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly".

To right-wing dittohead nimrods,

Which party had control of both Houses of Congress in 2005?

What was the actual reason for McCain's proposed reform of the GSE's?

Did it actually have anything to do with subprime CDOs? Or was it a case of corruption....cooking the books?

Because, if the prior years are any indicator, Fannie Mae was hardly the only company where upper mgmt was guilty of this.

I think you right wingers need to go and read about the Glass-Steagal Act instead...it was enacted in midst of the Great Depression basically to prevent another depression. Phil Gramm and John McCain are directly responsible for the passage of that law...which led to a disastrous deregulation of the banking industry.

The new code word, McCain's 7 lobbyists but we'll never hear about Penny Pritzker, or Jim Johnson, I can guarantee that.

"Two years ago, I warned that the oversight of Fannie and Freddie was terrible, that we were facing a crisis because of it, or certainly serious problems," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS this morning."

McCain did indeed deliver a speech on the Senate floor in 2006 in which he warned of a problem with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the risks they posed to the housing market and the economy as a whole.

*********

It turns out John McCain did warn about the dangers of Fannie and Freddie two years ago. He wasn't lying or mistaken.

>>Baxter Greene | Sep 18, 2008 12:42:45 AM:

Thank you for your excellent post; it was informative, lucid.... and you're right!. There will be NO investigation of Senator O's complicity.

(They will, however, continue their search for "nits" on Sarah Palin!)

Congress thought everyone should have a house whether they could afford it or not.
This was the beginning of this crisis because all the speculators saw the big money tree growing in Wash. and thought they couldn't lose.
Now congress thinks everyone should have health care. The next bubble.

Mikhah: not a shovel of dirt has been lifted-nor will it be until the federal government puts up backing and tax incentives for the oil companies to build them-government backed and financed-more corporate welfare-republicans scream free trade and market forces dictate and then bail out every failed business-republicans couldn't sucessfully run a zoo.

ABC News:

You have the obligation to thoroughly investigate a matter and report your findings as they truly are, and not as you WANT them to be. Your bias has certainly come out in this campaign; and I will no longer be one of your viewers.