Fannie, Freddie to Be Kept Off Federal Budget

[Warren Stupidity]

Source: Washington Post

Fannie, Freddie to Be Kept Off Federal Budget


The White House budget office said yesterday that it has decided not to incorporate mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the federal budget, citing the temporary nature of the Treasury Department's takeover and "the level of federal ownership" of the firms.

The decision affects the way public expenditures on the two companies will be reflected in official budget projections. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. has pledged to invest as much as $200 billion to keep the firms solvent.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091203082.html

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Let me explain: our pension funds (social security revenue) will be used to bail out billionaires without any requirement to pay for those expenditures through taxes. Another mountain of unbudgeted debt obligations has been added to the deficit. Current estimate: 200,000,000,000. That is probably way low. Along the way, McSame would like to reduce corporate taxes by another 200-300 billion, and once again off budget expenditures like this and the stupid ass never ending occupation of Iraq, will be paid for by pillaging the SS trust fund through uncontrolled deficit spending rather than paying for these 'projects' out of tax based revenue.

Fannie and Freddie are huge market failures. Privatization of the financial regulatory system established after the great depression has been a huge, catastrophic failure. The Chicago Gang is wrecking our nation, looting it while they can for everything they can get, as they have done to other countries around the planet.

[mrJJ]

1. The GOP Scewed America

The GOP Scewed America

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act.

53 Republican Senators plus one Democrat - AYE

44 Democrats no Republicans - NAY

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (November 12, 1999), is an Act of the United States Congress which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, opening up competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) allowed commercial and investment banks to consolidate. For example, Citibank merged with Travelers Group, an insurance company, and in 1998 formed the conglomerate Citigroup, a corporation combining banking and insurance underwriting services. Other major mergers in the financial sector had already taken place such as the Smith-Barney, Shearson, Primerica and Travelers Insurance Corporation combination in the mid-1990s. This combination, announced in 1993 and finalized in 1994, would have violated the Glass-Steagall Act and the Bank Holding Acts by combining insurance and securities companies, if not for a temporary waiver process <1>. The law was passed to legalize these mergers on a permanent basis. Historically, the combined industry has been known as the financial services industry.
...
Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.<6> Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly".

"John McCain voted FOR the bank laws that led to the current credit crisis. John Mccain's economic advisor WROTE the law. 53 Republicans voted YES to the law. When you're in danger of losing your house, can you take a chance on more of the same from those who wrecked out economy?"

[bvar22]

16. Financial Services Modernization Act. was signed by Bill Clinton,

and the Senate had way more than enough Democrats to stop this vile piece of legislation.

You didn't hear the Republicans whining that they needed 60 votes in the Senate to get this passed!

The Big Business Democrats (DLC) deserve some of the blame.

[MissWaverly]

2. What good news, we need another off the books expenditure

Where do we get these creative financiers, do they happen to have Enron on their resume?

[1corona4u]

3. See, that's the thing with fucking republicans.

Thye like to spend money, but they never have a plan to actually PAY it back. And they think they are fiscally conservative. :eyes:

I guess these asshats in Washington are use to money falling out of the sky, since they line their pockets with money from big oil, corporations, and lobbyist.

[CrispyQ]

5. Tax cut & spend conservatives.

Why pay it back when you can get someone else to! :eyes:

I don't have much hope for America. My husband works with a group of guys, most of whom believe that bailouts for the corporations are A-OK, but help for families facing financial difficulty is not. Only one other guy is going to vote dem.

[1corona4u]

6. Here's what kills me...

these asshats don't stop and think about WHO spends the money in this country. It's not the rich. It's the middle class. When the middle class is working 2-3 jobs, just to make ends meet, and they keep "moving the ends", eventually, there won't be enough hours in the day for people to make enough money to keep up. If the middle class can't spend money, then they don't make money. Then what? Don't they get that?

The rich bastards are rich because they don't spend money, and they invest, and save it. We in the middle class can't save money, because there is nothing left over.

[DogPoundPup]

15. The rich bastards converted their money FROM THE U.S. DOLLSR

a couple of yrs. ago and invested it in the strongest most secure currency from the worldwide selections, whatever that might be, I don't know. I'm not that knowledgeable on the subject on the currency market. But it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out they are waiting like pariahs, (ROBBER BARONS) to come back here with their money and gobble up whatever they can buy in the Bush/McSame 'privatized' world give away of U.S. assets.

[CrispyQ]

19. Senator Dorgan talks about this in his book "Take This Job & Ship It."

He says that there is no way the ultra rich can support the economy like the middle class can. When a rich person purchases a billion dollar yacht, it does very little for the economy compared to one billion dollars spread out among the middle class.

The multi-national corporations have turned their backs on America. We helped build these corporations as employees & as customers. But as non-living entities, they are not beholden to us, our communities, or to our country, only to their shareholders. They have their sights on newer & bigger markets, India & China. The Chinese are working for $2 a day - how do you build new markets with slave labor wages?

Eventually, the corporate goal of cheap global labor will bite them in the butt as their warehouses fill up with goods they can no longer sell because the masses can't afford it & the rich aren't numerous enough. This is what you get when you only look to next quarter's earnings & not beyond.

[bvar22]

17. Smash & Grab Republicans

[tanyev]

4. Enron accounting.

It works really well, until it fails spectacularly.

[Demeter]

7. Temporary, Hmmm?

Like the Iraq War? Or like the lack of peace in the Middle East?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. That's the equivalent of saying that

calories you eat between meals don't count. :eyes:

[whistle]

9. Just like Iraq/Afghanistan wars, just rolls directly into the Federal Debt total

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 13 Sep 2008 at 02:06:08 PM GMT is:


$9,685,346,161,782.34

The estimated population of the United States is 304,720,224
so each citizen's share of this debt is $31,784.39.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.93 billion per day since September 28, 2007!



http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. It must be noted in every post like this;

We pay $250B+ a year in interest on that debt.

Every year. Straight to bankers, foreign and domestic. At this rate, in 15-20 years we'll pay more in interest on the debt than on "Defense."

[trof]

10. Great. I'll take my mortgage off of my credit rating 'debts owed'.

Hey, I'm FREE AND CLEAR!
NO DEBT!
Wow, THAT was easy.
;-)

[RC]

11. Translation of "Fannie, Freddie to Be Kept Off Federal Budget"

"Money laundering"

This will be another black hole money pit.

[Speciesamused]

13. Repeal the FED. It is necessary to gain our monetary

system back. Peace

[Warren Stupidity]

14. I'd settle for more direct public control

At the moment the fed regulates our money supply using practices that are directly harmful to working families and that appear to benefit only very large financial institutions and extremely wealthy individuals. A central bank is not a bad idea - in fact such institutions appear to be essential for our current economic system - but the policies implemented by that bank ought to be under democratic social control. The fed ought to be our fed and not the fed of the filthy rich global elites.

[CitizenPatriot]

18. Without Gramm, none of this would have been possible

hats off, ladies and gentlemen, to McCain's "change" financial adviser/DEREGULATOR of the banking and yes, energy sectors.

Phil Gramm, the guy who sneaked a 300 page amendment into a pre-existing bill which allowed banks to deregulate with NO oversight, all of their mortgages....this was the guy whose wife was on the board of ENRON, which he also deregulated (the energy sector) and made oodles of millions while investors and retirees lost everything. Yes, this is the guy McCain brings as his economic adviser-- the genius who is still claiming it's all the oversight that is ruining the economy. Oh, no...that's not a joke.

What is a JOKE is these ass clowns LIE about everything. change? Maverick? Why the fuck is the main lobbyist for Fannie and Freddie running McLame's campaign????

Then there is the corrupt OCC involvement in the mortgage and banking fiasco. They decided they could just make new laws without going through congress, so that's what they did. States tried to sue, but the Republican congress refused to hear their cases....the states warned 5 years ago of the damage that was being done due to lack of oversight re the banks/mortgages, but NO. Republicans didn't want to even hear them out -- so New Rule, they took all power away from the states....(ding ding, for those of you wondering how this works coming from the "less govt" party and the "let the states decide party, I say -- they are full of SHIT)

flash forward to today. Don't you want to hand these financial geniuses a fucking prize? The next time one of them opens their mouths to talk about letting the market decide, they should be handcuffed and taken to jail for fraud.

In any other job, if you were this fucking incompetent, you'd be on the dole.
But these guys keep getting more and more money for doing worse and worse jobs for us, meanwhile they are pocketing millions.

(Mother Jones has great articles re the financial melt down)

It's too bad more people don't understand what has gone on with the economy -- the pukes have sold it as a "market fluctuation". I am not sure whether to ROFL or vomit.

It's dangerously reckless incompetence, being grossly overpaid. GOPPERS.

[thecrow]

20. Fannie and Freddie are now like a black op

Without any accountability I am guessing

[CatholicEdHead]

21. Hide everything off budget then, Freddy and Fanny, the Iraq War

What good is a budget if major things are left off of it?

[DallasNE]

22. This Is The Same Kind Of Accounting Enron Used

What ever happened to the auditing profession? Why would an auditor ever sign off on off-book accounting? This is the very item that has caused so much financial grief in America and around the world. Auditing used to be a revered profession. Today they are snake oil salesmen that will sign anything for a fee.

Obviously, the federal government has decided to take the easy route and inflate the problem away. Thanks for creating the problem George W. Bush and thanks for dumping it in the lap of the next President. Indeed, worst President ever.

[Festivito]

23. War and FMFM off budget lets CONs fool the little pubbies,

... who think borrowing is below five percent GDP. Fools indeed.

Some are being hit by their own bricks finally, and they're scratching their behinds trying to hide the fact from their own selves that it hurts back there.

[Solly Mack]

24. just never ends