Political Punch

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.

since McCains major experience in finacial collapes came as a defemdant and participant in the Keating 5 scandals-who more experienced than he to recognise greed and corruption. Yes mr McCain has more experience than obama in this area-that of a DEFENDANT

This financial mess is the fault of BOTH parties. And yes, both candidates have people in their campaigns that are perhaps "questionable". Also the solution to solving this economical crisis is NOT a simple thing. I have yet to see two economists agree as what should be done. This next election I will vote for the ticket that I believe will have the BEST interests of this nation at heart, and who will govern with the interests of the American citizen in mind. It is imperative that the ticket not only can, but is willing to reach across the hall and work on things that will make this country better, stronger and safer. The grid-lock in Congress HAS to stop. "Business as usual" is going to be the downfall of this nation, and do not make the mistake thinking that this great nation cannot fall!

Congressman Ron Paul
U.S. House of Representatives
July 16, 2002

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act. This legislation restores a free market in housing by repealing special privileges for housing-related government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). These entities are the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie), and the National Home Loan Bank Board (HLBB). According to the Congressional Budget Office, the housing-related GSEs received $13.6 billion worth of indirect federal subsidies in fiscal year 2000 alone.

One of the major government privileges granted these GSEs is a line of credit to the United States Treasury. According to some estimates, the line of credit may be worth over $2 billion. This explicit promise by the Treasury to bail out these GSEs in times of economic difficulty helps them attract investors who are willing to settle for lower yields than they would demand in the absence of the subsidy. Thus, the line of credit distorts the allocation of capital. More importantly, the line of credit is a promise on behalf of the government to engage in a massive unconstitutional and immoral income transfer from working Americans to holders of GSE debt.

The Free Housing Market Enhancement Act also repeals the explicit grant of legal authority given to the Federal Reserve to purchase the debt of housing-related GSEs. GSEs are the only institutions besides the United States Treasury granted explicit statutory authority to monetize their debt through the Federal Reserve. This provision gives the GSEs a source of liquidity unavailable to their competitors.

Ironically, by transferring the risk of a widespread mortgage default, the government increases the likelihood of a painful crash in the housing market. This is because the special privileges of Fannie, Freddie, and HLBB have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital they could not attract under pure market conditions. As a result, capital is diverted from its most productive use into housing. This reduces the efficacy of the entire market and thus reduces the standard of living of all Americans.

However, despite the long-term damage to the economy inflicted by the government’s interference in the housing market, the government’s policies of diverting capital to other uses creates a short-term boom in housing. Like all artificially-created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. These losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over-investment in housing.

Perhaps the Federal Reserve can stave off the day of reckoning by purchasing GSE debt and pumping liquidity into the housing market, but this cannot hold off the inevitable drop in the housing market forever. In fact, postponing the necessary but painful market corrections will only deepen the inevitable fall. The more people invested in the market, the greater the effects across the economy when the bubble bursts.

No less an authority than Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has expressed concern that government subsidies provided to the GSEs make investors underestimate the risk of investing in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors misled by foolish government interference in the market. I therefore hope my colleagues will stand up for American taxpayers and investors by cosponsoring the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act.

McCain came out years ago as stated plainly in his 2005 push for oversight
to fix this problem,the fact that he could not foresee every problem that might come from this does not diminish the fact he tried to act only to have the democrats block his actions and President Bush's.

Bush did try to increase oversight on Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac:
NYtimes reported this 5 yrs. ago:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.
Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending.

However, what many do not recall is that Bush wanted to tighten oversight with a new regulatory board for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government recipients for the express purpose of addressing bad loan practices — and Democrats blocked it.

Look what the democrats had to say about it:
”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Typical democrats,create the problem then blame others when the sh!t hits the
fan.

Obama is up to his neck in the corruption that has allowed this to happen,where are those front page headlines:

The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy
(from classicvalues)
This is a long and complicated story about how Obama backers were behind the mortgage industry meltdown.

Obama's ties to ACORN
Penny Pritzker
James a "Jim" Johnson

for starters these two were running the
show for one of the biggest bailouts the
country has had to make and they are top
financial advisors for Obama.They also have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars to their pockets for their protection of the corrupt Fannie/Freddie
fiasco.

Now Obama wants to act like he is Robin
Hood when he was one of the leading actors in this rape of the tax payers.

"Why yes. Mr. ∅ was outraged. The very people who helped to rip off the American people were taking millions from the taxpayers while ∅ was helping the thieves get away with trillions. I'm outraged. At the theater. What a great act. And he seems so sincere."

I guess the great one will see no investigation,it would get in the way of
the activist media and their cheer leading support to get him elected.

Obviously, McCain did anticipate the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac crisis. His remarks about the "FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005" demonstrate that conclusively.

Equally obviously, the subprime mortgage crisis that he didn't anticipate extends well beyond the FMs.

There is no contradiction here.

Bush is the reason nothing came of any bill that would have prevented this current crisis. Think what you like, but I blame Bush for being completely owned by big business and being stubborn and hardheaded about allowing any bill or measure that Democrats attempted to put forth. Bush has done nothing to prevent this situation and he won't.

McCain said last year he didn't "know" the situation would get "completely out of hand."

That's different from not warning of credit industry problems and actually offering legislation to prevent a crisis, as he did in 2005.

Did Obama offer legislation to restrain and correct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

cs - yes, they need to hear more commonsense, keep it up. cs means commomsense for you uninformed!

robotworld - you really are from outerspace, mckinney and the other's, lol! McCain could'nt answer because everybody else plus McCain could'nt understand that futuristic space language coming from ron paul. he was just another ross perot, crazy! lol!

The headline is obviously meant to imply that the claim is less than factual. The explanation is a bit weak: "Again, people hear the word "claim" and assume I'm implying something that the word "claim" does not mean. (It means to assert as fact. It does not mean to FALSELY assert as fact." Although it doesn't explicitly mean falsely, it does imply that that there may be an opposing view. No one would ever say "Despite claims that John McCain is a Republican".

And if Tapper googled a little harder he would see that McCain's not making a "claim" — he really did anticpate the problems with GSEs and see them as a systemic financial problem. He even sponsored legislation to deal with it:
"
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. "

This legislation was stonewalled by Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, and Nancy Pelosi all on the dole from Fannie and Freddie.

joe - what about biden's 30 plus year's, and he did nothing, hmm?

Ron Paul warned of this disaster 5 YEARS ago. McSane doesn't know his arse from his elbow...he's going to talk like he knows anything about Economics. He couldn't even answer an economic question from Ron Paul during a primary debate.

What an ASS? Vote McBama...we're McScrewed.

VOTE 3rd Party. Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr ANYONE but McBama.

Ron Paul warned of this disaster 5 YEARS ago. McSane doesn't know his arse from his elbow...he's going to talk like he knows anything about Economics. He couldn't even answer an economic question from Ron Paul during a primary debate.

What an ASS? Vote McBama...we're McScrewed.

VOTE 3rd Party. Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr ANYONE but McBama.

No doubt that earlier statement re: need for more deregulation uttered by John McCain is his real point of view. He must thinks we are all too dumb to realize he and his buddies are the very ones who entered us into the era of Unfettered Greed. This guy is clueless and a greater illustration that they are clueless could not be more perfect than this meltdown after he and his buddies push extreme deregulation. Welcome to the recession everyone, courtesy of this administration that pushed deregulation beyond acceptable boundaries.

McCain did forewarn about the potential negative impact of practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I give him that. But, after 20 something years in the Senate I would expect McCain to have made some accurate predictions; not that he ever did much about it mind you. However, it is his overall record (e.g., war and deregulation policies to say the least) that are at issue.

ryan c - keating 5, investigated, no charges! affair with another woman while married, i don't need to get into personal marital matter, thats to judgemental especially when his ex had an affair too. happen's alot with military families!

"unlike Senator Obama, did not receive campaign contributions from them. "

While Obama has taken in roughly $120K from employees of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, McCain has accepted contributions from them as well(around $15K).

Why do right wingers take a perfectly good line of attack and lie about it?

Is it stupidity? Is it a need for there the issue to black and white?

"The question is whether he had the foresight to propose increased regulation. He did. Obama, Pelosi and Frank did not"

John,

McCain did not propose the legislation. He cosponsored it.

Obama authored the STOP Fraud Act in 2006 and again intro'd it in 2007.

Nothing came of either bill by either candidate.

McCain is a capitalist? What do you call it when taxpayers bail out failing companies like AIG, Bear Stearns, or Lehman? You nitwits have it backwards. McCain and his Republican pals want it both ways. The like private enterprise, so they can privatize the PROFITS. But they LOVE socialism because they can socialize (i.e., foist on taxpayers) the LOSSES. In the meantime, families lose their homes, their pensions, and sometimes their savings. And to add insult to injury, the executives get multi-million dollar severance packages. To support this Republican bullcrap you have to either be in the top .5 percent of all U.S. earners or you're an idiot.

Pile it on, Jake - McCain is still the best choice. I would take anyone over BHO - even Cynthia what's-her-name! NOBAMA - ever!

you are wrong Jack...here is McCain in 2005:

John McCain. 25 May 2005, speaking to the Senate:

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 the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

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.

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.

The legislation was blocked by Democrats, with the assistance of a few Republicans.

The issue is not whether he was able to forecast the intensity of the collapse...no one did. The question is whether he had the foresight to propose increased regulation. He did. Obama, Pelosi and Frank did not. Spin it how you like; those are the facts.

Just wondering you are for real?
It is so inspiring to see people with so mush to live ahead of them .To support the spring chicken John McCain

Mr. Tapper, it is a shame your article was not fact checked, otherwise you would have discovered the 2005 bill Senator McCain introduced in order to control Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, or the 2002 bill Senator McCain co-sponsored with House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt to create the Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission, or read Senator McCain's comments to Keene Sentinel closely and see they were in reference to the S&L crisis, not Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Senator McCain was way out in front on warning about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and, unlike Senator Obama, did not receive campaign contributions from them.

I don't think McCain wants the S&L crisis coming up in the press.

The idea that McCain is now going to regulate private business is bizarre.

REMEMBER? It’s the ECONOMY stupid

John McCain perception of the issues is pathetic
It is really sad once analyze why McCain select Palin for running mate.
The only criterion was how he could win this election despite the best interest of the country and the American people His CAMPAIGN is SPIN, LIES and LIPSTICK

"if he used gov employee's to further his career in the military their would be a record of past coruption"

Keating Five ring any bells?

Or his "honorable" actions reagrding his 1st wife?

spirit! forgive me for the typo.

ryan c - his dad never had the power to make him admiral! the military serves the country, not politician's. if he used gov employee's to further his career in the military their would be a record of past coruption, none, only honor! and what do you mean assist? that's what liberal's do, assist! welfare, unemployment, etc... that's what liberal's do, say the help the people but only put them on a gov support system they never get off. that's how they get their votes! at least after 5yrs of torture McCain got back on his feet by self determination without the help of his father other than moral support! that's a true father and a portrait of the true American way and spirt!

Timmaaa7 you are missing the point .What makes a President is the right Judgment. Be cool like coo camber in time of crisis. Not have 7 houses or family business hundred million dollars worth. Do not have the temper to pick a fight but the temper to fight every day make the life of the community around you better.
Make your luck alone against the tide and not be a pilot with the wings of your father

Cripes, McCain has no grip on the truth at all. He's still repeating the "Alaska supplies 20% of our energy" lie, for crying out loud. Can anyone seriously imagine this bumbling, lying fool as president?

Worse, who here can imagine Palin taking charge of the economy? My last parking citation would make a better "Ticket for America"!

What an Ostrich and the Republicans have in common?Let me guess::::::
Both hide their head on the sand and pretend everything is fine
An ostrich bury its head in the sand and pretend everything is fine
Republicans do the same and follow McCain
America and the world is suffering with the blunders of Bush Administration
The economy have crumple and the prosperity of many people are under risk not only in America but also worldwide.
Because America doesn’t stand alone world have turn into a very small place and everything is linked
John McCain and Sarah Palin promise of change: Is a change to Nowhere
This election is not only about some bridge in Alaska it is about all the bridges and roads in all the o United States because they are all crying out for repairs and maintenance. This is because for the last 8 years the Bush and the Republicans havespent enormous amounts to build up Iraq and they have forgotten about the needs of their own country.

Timmaaaa,

So your logic is that because McCain;s dad did not make him admiral that means his father did nothing to assist his son?

The Navy gave a guy who finished at the bottom of his class a slot in the pilot program.

When he came home from the Hanoi Hilton, they saddled him with one of the worst outfits they had stateside.

What changed?

Losing Vietnam.

The rw likes to recount the Rambo myth of lefties spitting on returning vets.

But the truth is many people felt that the soldiers had lost Vietnam. That they had brought dishonor to our country.

After his stint as commander, he became a liasion which is basically career dead end.

Gee, imagine that. Exaggerations and flat out lies. It took the press some time to get over their years of fawning over McCain but they are finally doing their job and digging in to his comments.

The Republicans were in control in 2005 when the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act didn't make it past introduction in 2005.

In 2007, when the bill was reintroduced, flip-flop McCain was nowhere to be found as a co-sponsor.

McLiar has flip-flopped and fibbed too much to know where he really stands on anything unless it means waging a war.

foreclosure - who in the hell ever said being and ex-pow qualifies a person to be president, nobody! only the left brings that comment up. what qualifies an ex-community organizer to be president! McCain still has more legislative experience by many more years and has a record, where is obama's, i asked, WHERE IS OBAMA'S!!! i know, it does'nt exist! oh, i forgot, PRESENT, how many time's!!!

ryan c - it was never about legacy, in the military from start to finish, you have to prove yourself. why do you think he moved on to politics when he could not make it to admiral. it is harder to get promoted in the military than in politics because they look at the whole picture, which is the problem with liberal's. the military even said McCain had the knowlegde and mental ability to be an admiral but not physicaly which is still an requirement at that age. his father was retired at that time, still with pull in the navy, so why did he not become a admiral, get your liberal facts straight. his father was not going to pave his son's path for him, he had to earn it, which is what McCain's grandfather said and did to McCain's father! only because of the torture that caused the physical damage
done to him, he was rejected for promotion. you seriously don't have your fact's right and no heart of understanding which is a common place problem with you liberal's. you people are the wizard of oz all over again!

Obama - number 2 in political contributions from Fannie and Freddie.
His buddy, Senator Dodd, was number 1.

Penny Pritzker, Obama's national finance chair was, with her family, the half owner of Superior Bank, which was shut down in 2001 by the FDIC after it had lost nearly all of its more than $2 billion of assets on bad loans to high-risk borrowers, federal regulators said.

A former Naval Academy midshipman who was imprisoned alongside John McCain is the narrator of a new television ad that bashes the Republican candidate by saying being a prisoner of war is not a good prerequisite for being president
He is right to be a ex POW qualified you like a great American BUT IS NOT WHAT MAKE YOU A PRESIDENT

Article confuses Fannie/Freddie with collateralized subprime debt.

There's nothing controversial about McCain getting in on legacy.

Why you would deny that is strange.

I also think its funny that you talk about leadership displayed by a "rebel" who racked up so many demerits that he finished in the bottom of his class.

ryan c - he might not have been like his father and grandfather, but where is the controversy of him getting in, it's not there! his father stated he will not have any comment's or decision's on his son' acceptance into the acacdemy. at least he applied to the academy to serve his country instead of his self-interest! obama had the grades to get in, but did he also have the leadership skills which is noticed by interview's that the academy goes through which account's for the majority of one's points of acceptance! you wanna talk about stupid decisions, obama smoked pot, snorted coke and drank! McCain was just a rebel doing prankes which caused him demerit's which by the point system at the academy, which caused him points to be at the bottom of his class. they both did stupid crap when they where young as most of us did!

"do you even understand what kind of grades or the the amount of test you have to take to get into the naval academy or west point! connections or family has nothing to do with that decision who's accepted"

His father was a 4 star admiral.

His grandfather was a 4 star admiral.

He ended up in the literal bottom 5 of his class of nearly 900.

He was an obvious legacy admission.

Even McCain talks about being a screw up following in his father & grandfather;s footsteps because that was the family job (like being a cop or fireman) and it was his POW that really transformed.

That’s not surprise he doesn’t see the disaster of Iraq coming when he vote in favor of War .He support deregulations and then argue about the circus of Wall Street .A person who talk against the Government but he favors the government interference .A person who pick the Vice-president nominee only after one meeting
What you can say about his judgment? Oh just a minute he said the fundamentals of the economy are strong .Probably he was thinking about the family Business.
Was hilarious to watch Cindy McCain, when Senator McCain on his speech talks about the big salaries of the CEO’s, and how greedy they are.

With the financial sector in turmoil today, the media and the politicians have started throwing around blame with the same recklessness as lenders threw around credit to create the problem. Politically, the pertinent question is this: Which candidate foresaw the credit crisis and tried to do something about it? As it turns out, John McCain did — and partnered with three other Senate Republicans to reform the government’s involvement in lending three years ago, after an attempt by the Bush administration died in Congress two years earlier. McCain spoke forcefully on May 25, 2006, on behalf of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

"It's a fact that McCain sounded the alarm and tried to reform Fannie and Freddie in 2005, but Congress would have none of it."

His reform wasn't really much of a reform. And McCain didn't sound the alarm. He became cosponsor of a bill that was not picked up.

"It's also a fact that Obama hasn't done one darned thing to avert or correct this except"

Obama AUTHORED the Stop Fraud act which has been intro'd twice (in 2006 and again in 2007) but it was not acted upon.

dems - do you even understand what kind of grades or the the amount of test you have to take to get into the naval academy or west point! conections or family has nothing to do with that decision who's accepted! he operated a jet fighter plane, can you do that! i rather take a naval acacdemy grad any day before a liberal taught ivy league grad. by the way, you libs talk high about president clinton, where did he go to college at, hhmmm! not the ivy league, and i think other than moral's, he's way smarter than obama and the naval and west point academy goes search for smart for future strong and smart candidate's!

Angry American Voter:

Again more generalities with no factual comments to back it up. As to cancer. McCain does not have cancer right now and when he did it was skin cancer, the easiest cancer to treat. Many people with skin cancer go in for a short operation and are completely fine the next day.

John McCain's neck must hurt from constantly swiveling his head around. What I really want to know is why is he lying so much? He used to be a good guy, wasn't he? Is his real record so bad that he can't run on it? Is his memory so bad that he no longer remembers what he believes? It's so bizarre. (are we sure his cancer hasn't gone to his brain? I know that sounds mean, but I'm really worried about him. He needs to see a doctor.)

It's a fact that McCain sounded the alarm and tried to reform Fannie and Freddie in 2005, but Congress would have none of it.

It's also a fact that Obama hasn't done one darned thing to avert or correct this except tell us how bad off we all are and how awful everything is and how a Depression is just an election away in order to scare up some votes.

I can't stand it when people list how many years a person has in office as something they have done or accomplished.

You can spend 100 years in office and not accomplish anything. Also, before its mentioned that anyone (Obama) signed over 100 bills: that does not equal accomplishment. You can sign thousands of bills. That does mean you worked on the research or drafting of that bill.

Plus I don't care where you got your schooling if you haven't done anything with it. Please don't write the typical response to this statement. It does not impress me.

As for the guy who finished 5th from the bottom and the gal who went to more than 2 schools. Well, one is a war hero who has fought to stop this financial crisis, (See: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190) which was presented in 2005. The other has actually accomplished starting the construction of a natural gas pipeline from AK to the lower 48. NO ONE else could do this in the past 30 YEARS.

Again, for those people who just don't get it. I want someone who will see a problem or opportunity even if it is years away and work towards either solving or accomplishing that goal. McCain and Palin have done that. Obama definitely has not and nobody seems to be talking about Biden because he truly is "more of the same."

Stephen from Indiana writes, "What experience in economy has Mr. America community organizer? Maybe he was given lessons by Reszko. How much money did he receive from Fannie Mae?
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I don't know. Maybe it was when he was a State Legistlator for Illinois from 1997 to 2004? Maybe as a U.S. Senator? As far as Rezco? You would impress us all more if you knew anything about the Keating 5. I don't know about the folks in Indiana but I'd s