When Barack spends the next 45 days blaming George Bush for the housing value problem, sub-prime mortgages, Hurricanes, global warming, Iraq and now Afghanistan, and of course the "bail-outs" ... he may need to be careful that he follows the money ... to his own pocket.
See Team Hammond for list of top beneficiaries.
We have said it here and on other Northwest Indiana real estate sites, the problems impacting Fannie and Freddie are greatly influenced by too much regulation, reverse red-lining, and out of control spending by Congress at the Federal level.
Some suggestions for political leaders who actually want to help, not just make things worse:
- Cut your local and state budgets as deep as possible now
- Eliminate any regulations that arbitrarily push housing costs up, eliminate foolish impact fees that were greedily contemplated when everyone thought housing could pay all the bills
- Talk to your engineers and planners, are they engaged in development concepts that will help create jobs and homeownership?
- Create down payment assistance programs that help renters move to homeownership, but use free market means
- Use a ton more common sense, stop relying on regulations to replace brains in government
- Lead with your pocket-book, buy real estate now
- Privatize things that private enterprises can do, government tends to stay in business far too long. Fannie and Freddie should have been fully privatized in the early 2000's
- Stop blaming, and seek to solve local and regional problems with both sides of the aisle
1 comment:
This statement is misleading:
1) Donations don't come from companies.
2) True, a list of Fannie and Freddie employee contributions puts Obama second, but a different list including Fannie and Freddie lobbyists and directors shows McCain getting more.
1) Federal law forbids candidates from receiving money directly from companies. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics tracks donations from employees of various companies.
The center's list of contributions from Fannie and Freddie employees places Obama second. Ahead of him is Sen. Chris Dodd, Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. The total listed for Obama is $126,349 — a tiny fraction of the approximately $390 million his campaign has raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The list shows McCain has received a total of $21,550 from Fannie and Freddie employees. The list includes donations of at least $200 from those who receive paychecks from Fannie and Freddie.
Note the list also includes donations from political action committees — pooled contributions from employees. Obama decided early in his presidential run not to accept PAC contributions, but the Center for Responsive Politics' list includes all contributions for members of Congress dating back to 1989 — including Obama and McCain's Senate campaigns.
The New York Times has published a separate list looking at contributions from "directors, officers, and lobbyists for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac" for the 2008 campaign cycle. That list — using figures from the Federal Election Commission — shows McCain receiving $169,000, while Obama received only $16,000.
Explaining the difference, the Center for Responsive Politics said on its Web site that it does not include members of the board of directors because they could serve on boards of various companies. Their contributions are listed along with other employees of the companies they work for. And the center says lobbyists usually represent multiple clients as well, so their contributions are listed under their lobbying firms — except in-house lobbyists, who are included in the center's list.
From
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/19/fact-check-did-obama-profit-from-fannie-and-freddie/#more-19364
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