How Freddie Mac halted regulatory drive

Source: Yahoo


AP IMPACT: How mortgage giant Freddie Mac waged a war of influence that co-opted Congress

* Pete Yost, Associated Press Writer
* Sunday December 7, 2008, 3:16 pm EST


WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation's capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw mortgage giant Freddie Mac had choice seats -- courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on.

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According to confidential company documents obtained by The Associated Press, Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., spent the evening in hard-to-obtain seats near the Nationals dugout with Freddie Mac executive Hollis McLoughlin and four of Freddie Mac's in-house lobbyists.

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Internal Freddie Mac budget records show $11.7 million was paid to 52 outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006. Power brokers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were recruited with six-figure contracts. Freddie Mac paid the following amounts to the firms of former Republican lawmakers or ex-GOP staffers in 2006:

--Sen. Alfonse D'Amato of New York, at Park Strategies, $240,000.

--Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota, at Clark & Weinstock, $360,297.

--Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, at Washington Group, $300,062.

--Susan Hirschmann at Williams & Jensen, former chief of staff to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, $240,790.

Freddie Mac's chairman and chief executive, Dick Syron, and McLoughlin, senior vice president for external relations, used Clark and Weinstock extensively, Weber said in an e-mail Friday.



Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-IMPACT-How-Freddie-Mac-apf-13766041.html

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All it takes is a little Vig.

their power and their government.

This is a classic, epic failure of good people to act at the right time, on both sides of the aisle.
The result has been catastrophic and is killing the people the idiots would have claimed they were
trying to help.