Bailout Oversight: House Dems Attacked Regulator in 2004

2004: Congressional Democrats Shoot the Messenger Warning of Problems at Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae
2008: Obama declares problems are result of "Deregulation" by Bush, McCain

"...I'm just pissed off at FHEO (Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight), because if it wasn't for you, I don't think we'd be here today."
--Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) 2004 Congressional hearing
To Almando Falcon, FHEO director who presented the report of widespread accounting irregularities in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac




"I don't see anything in the report that raises safety and soundness problems."
--Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) 2004 on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac irregularities

C-SPAN video footage of a Congressional hearing you will not see in the Mainstream Media.

Democrats insist that the $700 billion bailout will have "oversight".

What happened four years ago when the Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight director issued a report raising the alarm about irregularities at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?

Democrats attacked the agency in charge of oversight. Will it be any different with the "New Improved Oversight"?





"...I'm just pissed off at FHEO (Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight), because if it wasn't for you, don't think we'd be here today."
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) 2004 Congressional hearing
To Almando Falcon, FHEO director who presented the report of widespread accounting irregularities in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

"I don't see anything in the report that raises safety and soundness problems."
--Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) 2004 on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac irregularities

"I get the feeling that the markets are not worried about the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae..."
--Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) 2004 hearing

"Under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines, everything in the 1992 Act has worked just fine."
--Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) 2004 hearing

"But the concern that I have is that you are making very specific--what you have correctly acknowledged--very broad and categorical judgments about the management of this institution, about he willfullness of practices that may or may not be in controversy. You've imputed various motives to the people running the organization. You went to the board and put a forty-eight hour ultimatum on them, without having any specific regulatory authority to put that ultimatum on them. It sounds like some kind of invisible line has been crossed."
--Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) 2004 hearing
To Almando Falcon, FHEO presenting the report about problems with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Franklin Raines

Thanks to Naked Emperor News, this incredibly incriminating footage on C-Span from 2004 shows a Congressional hearing on oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investigating illegal book keeping of the government backed banking companies.

You’ll notice Democrats like Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Gregory Meeks and Artur Davis saying Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were doing just fine, didn’t need to be investigated and beating up on regulators trying to keep Fannie and Freddie honest.

Meanwhile, Republicans like Richard Baker, Ed Royce, Christopher Shays and Don Manzullo predict trouble ahead at Frannie and Freddie, call for more oversight and condemn the incredible profits of the CEOs of these government sponsored financial companies.
--2004 Footage Shows Democrats Defending Fannie/Freddie Illegal Book Keeping While Republicans Call for Oversight

One of the chief roadblocks to the $700 billion bailout is the House Republicans not buying into handouts to the very people that we were warned about four years ago.

The House Republicans are well aware how well "oversight" worked four years ago when the agency responsible exercised some oversight.

Meanwhile, the Mainstream Media cautions their remaining "news" customers not to make the financial bailout into a partisan issue.

Little wonder.


by Mondo
image: amnesty international

Mukasey Might Prefer Waterboarding: Hearings Are A Form of Torture

News continues from the Mukasey hearings and it's not good if you're an administration looking for a few good men. The time is long past when hearings about administration nominees, for any post with more responsibility than Department of Amoeba Research, was routine.

More on this from the New York Times:

In adamantly refusing to declare waterboarding illegal, Michael B. Mukasey, the nominee for attorney general, is steering clear of a potential legal quagmire for the Bush administration: criminal prosecution or lawsuits against Central Intelligence Agency officers who used the harsh interrogation practice and those who authorized it, legal experts said Wednesday.

Three Republicans have hopped on the waterboarding issue, presidential candidate John McCain, as well as John Warner and Lindsey Graham. While McCain's stand is understandable, the other two Senators will be among the first voices heard if U.S. intelligence agencies fail to come up with information before the next catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Three Republicans who have denounced waterboarding wrote to Mr. Mukasey on Wednesday, suggesting that they would support him but urging him to declare waterboarding illegal after he is confirmed.

The senators, John McCain of Arizona, John W. Warner of Virginia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said anyone who engaged in waterboarding “puts himself at risk of prosecution, including under the War Crimes Act, and opens himself to civil liability as well.”

Senate confirmation hearings are the biggest of political footballs, especially in the run-up to an election year. All of the questions about waterboarding obscures the real issue here. Torture now are the hearings themselves.

by Mondoreb
[image:boingboing]



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How Far Did General PetraeusMove the Debate on War?THE DEFEATIST CORNER DEMOCRATS HAVE PAINTED THEMSELVES INTO

by Mondoreb

From the Captain's Quarters:

How far has General David Petraeus moved the debate on Iraq? His testimony on the surge, and the effects of the surge itself, has made it much more difficult for Democrats to argue for withdrawal and defeat. In fact, at last night's debate, the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination couldn't even commit to a withdrawal.

Slowly, like a noose tightening around their necks, the leading Democratic candidates are starting to realize something: while the War in Iraq is not popular, a large percentage of American adults realize it was necessary.

The constant Democrat pandering to the Huffington Post and TheDailyKOS crowd is not without it's consequences. Come November next year Americans will cast ballots on a President. Many of those voters will vote on the person they feel can defend the country best in a time of war. Looking over the entire Democrat line-up does nothing to inspire those voters who consider national defense a key to their vote.

Regardless of what the Nutroots, the Mainstream Media and the Democratic candidates shovel out onto the news compost, a majority of Americans seem to liken the War in Iraq to cleaning out a hornets' nest in the garage: an unpleasant task, but it has to be done. And forget anyone else coming over to your garage to do it for you.

The Democrat Debate last night provided evidence of the dilemma the Dems have charged into. None now guaranteed a speedy withdrawal. TheDailyKOSsacks must have been spazzing out in suburban basements all across America. The 'Mad Pakistani Bomber', B. Hussein Obama: "I think it's hard to project four years from now," (from Yahoo News.


Perhaps the Democrats paused over this week's Rasmussen Poll which found that only 28% supported the abhorent MoveOn.org ad on "General Betray Us". 58% disapproved. Maybe Congressional Dems might want to rethink their disgusting attempts at turning the Petraeus Report hearings into one long Democrat Party election soundbite.

The Petraeus Report hearings will make an election commercial all right. Just not the one that opportunistic, defeatist Democrat Party pols thought they were getting.


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