With calls for change in Washington dominating the campaign, both Mr. Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee, and Mr. McCain, his Republican opponent, have claimed the mantle of bipartisanship.
But since 2005, Mr. McCain has led as chief sponsor of 82 bills, on which he had 120 Democratic co-sponsors out of 220 total, for an average of 55 percent of his co-sponsors. He worked with Democrats on 50 of his bills, and of those, 37 times Democrats outnumber Republicans as his co-sponsors.
Mr. Obama, meanwhile,
sponsored 120 bills, of which Republicans co-sponsored just 26, and on
only 5 bills did Republicans outnumber Democrats.
Mr. Obama gained 522 total Democratic co-sponsors but only 75 Republicans,
for an average of only 13 percent of his co-sponsors.
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http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm | http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html | http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes | http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html | http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/ | http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/ | http://nationalrepublicantrust.com/licensefactsheet.html |
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Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.) ... If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish, and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama. If you who produce our local daily paper had any personal honor, you would find it unbearable to let the American people believe that somehow Republicans were to blame for this crisis. ... So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means? Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for? ... ... tell the truth about John McCain: that he tried, as a Senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. You will tell the truth about President Bush: that his administration tried more than once to get Congress to regulate lending in a responsible way. This was a Congress-caused crisis, beginning during the Clinton administration, with Democrats leading the way into the crisis and blocking every effort to get out of it in a timely fashion. If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe — and vote as if — President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie. |
| On May 25, 2006, Sen. John McCain spoke forcefully on
behalf of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.
He said on the floor of 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." It died at the hands of the DEMOCRATS -- HERE's a video clip showing their anger. |
| Democrats and some Republicans opposed
reform in part because Fannie and Freddie were very good at greasing palms.
Fannie has spent $170 million on lobbying since 1998 and $19.3 million
on political contributions since 1990.
The principal recipient of Fannie Mae's largesse was a Democrat, Sen. Chris Dodd (D, CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. No. 2 was another Democrat, Sen. Barack Obama (D, IL). Mr. Dodd was also the second largest
recipient in the Senate of contributions from Countrywide's political action
committee and its employees, and the recipient of a home loan from Countrywide
at well below market rates. The No. 1 senator on Countrywide's list? Barack
Obama. Check
it out here: http://tinyurl.com/4h9955
|
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"Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd wanted the government to push financial institutions to lend to people they would not lend to otherwise, because of the risk of default. "The idea that politicians can assess risks better than people who have spent their whole careers assessing risks should have been so obviously absurd that no one would take it seriously." -- Dr. Thomas Sowell, Professor Emeritus, Economics, Stanford University, HERE |
| "Many politicians and pundits claim that the credit crunch and high mortgage foreclosure rate is an example of market failure and want government to step in to bail out creditors and borrowers at the expense of taxpayers who prudently managed their affairs. These financial problems are not market failures but government failure. ... The credit crunch and foreclosure problems are failures of government policy." -- Dr. Walter E. Williams, HERE |  |
"Barack Obama wasn't just the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac political contributions. He was also the senator from ACORN, the activist leader for risky 'affirmative action' loans. ... [The CRA] gave groups such as ACORN a license and a means to intimidate banks ... ACORN employed its tactics in 1991 by taking over the House Banking Committee room for two days to protest efforts to scale back the CRA. ... Obama represented ACORN in a 1994 suit against redlining. ACORN was also a driving force behind a 1995 regulatory revision pushed through by the Clinton administration that greatly expanded the CRA and helped spawn the current financial crisis. Obama was the attorney representing ACORN in this effort." -- IBD Editorials
"The Woods Fund report makes it clear Obama was fully aware of the intimidation tactics used by ACORN's Madeline Talbott in her pioneering ["community organizer"] efforts to force banks to suspend their usual credit standards. Yet he supported Talbott in every conceivable way. He trained her personal staff and other aspiring ACORN leaders, he consulted with her extensively, and he arranged a major boost in foundation funding [via CAC and Woods Fund] for her efforts." -- Stanley Kurtz, HERE
"If Obama wins, it means hiring
an arsonist to fight a fire." -- Mona Charen, HERE
_________
OBVIOUSLY, DEMOCRATS, INCLUDING BARACK OBAMA, DESERVE A GREAT DEAL OF THE BLAME.
>
Bloomberg News has a recap of the FINANCIAL CRISIS history: HERE.
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http://freedomkeys.com/candidatecomparison.htm |
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http://freedomkeys.com/perfectstorm.htm |
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http://freedomkeys.com/dems2blame4it.htm |
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http://freedomkeys.com/obamaproofing.htm |
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http://boortz.com/nuze/undecided.html |
