Quote:

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.
Quick Info
S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005
Last Action: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Status: Dead

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.

---

pinkfloydms said:

I don't really see anything to invasive in that bill at all. And probabley agree with most of it.

---

pinkfloydms said:

So is mccain for regulation or against it?

---

pinkfloydms said:

That doesn't include his flip flops in between now and then.

So is mccain for regulation or against it? I'm still not sure.

---

Quote:

Republican McCain supports the federal takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but wants eventual privatization, his advisors said.

"The long-term reforms are to scale down Fannie and Freddie so their size is no longer a threat. And then privatize them. Get them off the taxpayer's books entirely," said McCain's chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

But credit markets must stabilize first, he said.

"The next steps would be to have credit market conditions stabilize and have the ability, as a result, for firms to access capital again so that they can scale down their portfolio holdings," he said in a telephone interview.

---

zappaisgod said:

Republican McCain supports the federal takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but wants eventual privatization, his advisors said.

"The long-term reforms are to scale down Fannie and Freddie so their size is no longer a threat. And then privatize them. Get them off the taxpayer's books entirely," said McCain's chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

But credit markets must stabilize first, he said.

"The next steps would be to have credit market conditions stabilize and have the ability, as a result, for firms to access capital again so that they can scale down their portfolio holdings," he said in a telephone interview.

---

pinkfloydms said:

how about palins crazy ass preahcer or the fact that she is a creationist?

---

pinkfloydms said:

If you wanna talk about wright how about palins crazy ass preahcer or the fact that she is a creationist?

---

Quote:

I don't know enough about Johnson and Pritzker to have a detailed opinion. And if there was truly anything substantial with Ayers fixed news would have been all over it.

---

Entropymancer said:

pinkfloydms said:

how about palins crazy ass preahcer or the fact that she is a creationist?

---

Is that a confirmed fact? I know she's in favor of letting parents control whether creationism is in the school curriculum, but is she herself creationist?

---

Entropymancer said:

In your opinion she's a creationist???

How does your opinion come into play regarding her personal beliefs?

---

pinkfloydms said:

In my opinion, yes I believe she is. Why else would she be wanting a lie taught in schools.

---

zappaisgod said:

Entropymancer said:

pinkfloydms said:

how about palins crazy ass preahcer or the fact that she is a creationist?

---

Is that a confirmed fact? I know she's in favor of letting parents control whether creationism is in the school curriculum, but is she herself creationist?

---

That is interesting.  She favors the idea that parents should have a say in what their kids are taught.  What a concept.  I don't believe she favors the idea that Creationism be taught in any science curriculum.  As stupid as it is it cannot be ignored, millions of morons believe in it.  Just like millions of morons believe in Marxism.  They still teach that crap to young minds.

---

zappaisgod said:

pinkfloydms said:

In my opinion, yes I believe she is. Why else would she be wanting a lie taught in schools.

---

Listen, lazyboy, why don't you just this once find a link to support this stuff with like a statement on her part.  In my opinion you probably diddle 5 year old boys at the park.  What does that have to do with anything?  Less opinion, more facts.

---