Wealth in America

90% of Americans own 20% of the wealth in America

Battle of the Senators Part 1 & 2

Bailout Plan

McCain: The Great Deregulator

McCain Lies Part 1

McCain Lies Part 1

McCain's Brother: VA Suburbs "Communist Country"

McCain's Brother: VA Suburbs "Communist Country"

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER October 5, 2008 01:21 PM EST

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate John McCain's brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia "communist country," according to a report on The Washington Post's Web site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

Joe McCain then apologized, but the remark drew laughter at the event, according to the report.

Virginia has long been a Republican stronghold in presidential elections, but Democrat Barack Obama is running even or ahead of McCain in recent state polls. Obama is being helped by fast-growing communities in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Northern Virginia, which tend to vote more Democratic than other parts of the state.

One of those areas is Arlington, Va., where John McCain owns a condominium.

"This was Joe McCain's unsuccessful attempt at humor," said McCain campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

Could the McCain campaign be trying to bring back the McCarthy era by accusing all that oppose them to be terrorists and communists?

Republics Let This Bill Die

SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE APPROVES DOLE LEGISLATION TO REFORM OVERSIGHT OF FANNIE MAE & FREDDIE MAC

Jul 28, 2005: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably. It was approved by the committe which had a majority democrat membership.

There were 11 democrats and 10 republicans in that committee and it passed, WOW!!!

OK,democrats didn't stop in committee in 2005, republicans had two year to take action since they controlled congress

So how is this the dems fault when all he republicans had to do is pass it when they controlled congress?

Is this all republicans can do try to blame it on the democrats. Don't they know the facts can be checked.

http://dole.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=d692e1c0-224d-4109-ac5e-14a5cfee0af8&Month=7&Year=2005

SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE APPROVES DOLE LEGISLATION TO REFORM OVERSIGHT OF FANNIE MAE & FREDDIE MAC July 28th, 2005 - Washington, D.C. - The Senate Banking Committee today approved legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and her colleagues Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and John Sununu (R-NH) that would improve oversight of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE). The bill, the Federal Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act (S. 190), must now be considered by the full Senate.

“It is of the utmost importance that we enact legislation this year to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate under an effective, world-class regulator,” said Dole. “This bill sends a strong message to those employees at Fannie and Freddie who have cooked the books at these important institutions.

“It is unacceptable that such entities - that were designed with the sole purpose of lowering the cost of homeownership through a liquid secondary mortgage market - had become grossly mismanaged and must restate earnings. Why should these financial institutions, with debts that rival the federal government, have any less regulation than a bank? We cannot accept having a regulator that was intentionally made to be weak when the stakes are so high for the American people and our economy,” Dole added.

The legislation would:

· Create an independent world class regulator to oversee the safety and soundness of the housing enterprises;

· Give the new regulator the authority to close down a failing GSE and protect against a taxpayer bailout;

· Give the new regulator greater discretion in raising capital standards to prevent insolvency;

· Give the new regulator approval power over new programs and activities proposed by a GSE;

· Require the annual audits of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s affordable housing programs to ensure that these programs support the enterprises’ affordable housing mission;

· End presidential appointments to the board of directors of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and require all Federal Home Loan Bank directors to be elected.

Additional Background

On September 17, 2004, Fannie and Freddie’s regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, released a report that, among other things, charged that through improper derivatives accounting, Fannie Mae manipulated earnings to hide volatility (as Freddie acknowledged in 2003) and to reach bonus targets for executives. Fannie Mae denied this but did not file third quarter earnings in November. On December 15, 2004, the SEC released its findings with regard to only the underlying accounting questions. The SEC also determined that Fannie Mae violated underlying accounting questions. It determined that Fannie Mae violated underlying accounting rules and must restate its earnings for the last four years. This will force Fannie to recognize an estimated $11 billion of losses on derivatives used to hedge interest rate risks.

This legislation (S. 1508) was first introduced in 2003 by Senators Dole, Hagel and Sununu. Their bill served as the vehicle for GSE reform legislation passed last year by the Senate Banking Committee. The Senate did not act on the Committee-passed legislation last Congress.