Obama Blames Bush and McCain for Fannie & Freddie

[Gman]

...but it's actually the Democrats that have made Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac their financial playground for over a decade. They've made big campaign contributions to Democrat candidates. Who is the number 2 recipient? Obama. Hmm. Corrupt politicians playing games with our money. That doesn't sound like "change".

Barack Obama's Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Connection


This has been known for quite some time. This is an article from 2004;
High Pay at Fannie Mae For the Well-Connected

David Frum on the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The two institutions have long been run not by bankers but by retired political figures, predominantly Democrats. From 1991 to 1998, Fannie Mae was headed by James Johnson, a longtime aide to former Democratic vice president Walter Mondale. Johnson’s successor, Franklin Raines, had served as budget director to Bill Clinton. Jamie Gorelick, vice chair of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2003, served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.

These figures have paid themselves impressive private-sector salaries. Johnson earned US$21-million in just his last year at Fannie Mae. Raines earned US$90-million for five years’ work at Fannie Mae. Gorelick got US$26-million.

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 helped to get us into this mess, the Clinton Administration's changes in 1995 really made it worse. George Bush attempted to rein in Freddie & Fannie in 2003 by putting them under the oversight of the Department of the Treasury, but the changes were not adopted.

Representative Barney Frank(D-MA) claimed of the thrifts "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." Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) added "I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act