Obama Flip Flops On Commissions, While McCain Gets It Right

“Misleader”
Image courtesy of http://lastwaltzer.blogspot.com/2008/07/honesty-is-best-policy.html.

BEFORE September 2008, Senator Barack Obama was FOR COMMISSIONS.

AFTER September 2008, Obama was AGAINST COMMISSIONS.

Obama SUPPORT FOR COMMISSIONS per Fox News on You Tube,

• August 2008 – SUPPORTED WAR CRIMES COMMISSION
• April 2008 – SUPPORTED creation of FINANCIAL MARKET OVERSIGHT COMMISSION.
• March 2007 – Voted YES on implementing recommendations for the 9/11 COMMISSION.
• October 2006 – Called for INDEPENDENT ETHICS COMMISSION to monitor partisanship.

Obama AGAINST COMMISSIONS at a campaign rally as seen on  You Tube,

“You can’t make this up.  It’s like a Saturday Night Live routine.  So, then yesterday, Senator McCain’s, uh, big solution to the crisis we’re facing is, put on your seat belts, a commission, a commission, you know that’s Washington speak for ‘we’ll get back to you later.’”

So when it was convenient, Obama was supportive of commissions.  But now he is critical of Senator John McCain’s idea for a 9/11 type commission “to investigate the failings and corruption on Wall Street.”  Why?

Maybe because if a commission investigates the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, they may check their political contributions, which may elucidate which government officials have been partial towards Freddie and Fannie, and therefore which government officials may have facilitated the irresponsible practices of Freddie and Fannie.

Image courtesy of http://463.blogs.com/the_463/prpolitical_biz/.

Senator Barack Obama and Senator Chris Dodd will be found as amongst the top recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions from 1989 through 2008.  Top 3 recipients:

Name	Office	Party/State	Total
1. Dodd, Christopher J	S	D-CT	$133,900
2. Kerry, John	S	D-MA	$111,000
3. Obama, Barack	S	D-IL	$105,849

As a matter of fact 16 of the top 25 in the list are Democrats.

In 2005-6, the U.S. Congress was apprised how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were failing, and were implored by Senator John McCain to do something about it, but the Democrat controlled Congress did not. The matter died in Congressional committee.  It was called the “Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005,” and was sponsored by Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE], and cosponsors Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC], Sen. John McCain [R-AZ], and Sen. John Sununu [R-NH].

McCain’s transcript in 2005, reveals his keen understanding of how Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae operated and the direction they were headed.

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.

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.

Well, McCain was right! Freddie Mac and Fannie have certainly contributed to the problems  of the U.S. economy now.  And for those elected officials, like Barack Obama, who benefitted through campaign contributions, yes, a federal commission investigation of the housing woes of America may look quite unfavorable upon you.  So the flip flop on commissions by Obama is just another attempt to masquerade his history, and confuse the voters.

“Web zen: illusion zen.”
Image courtesy of http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/06/web-zen-illusion-zen.html.

See:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp0ugQjhmw8.
• http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/024523.php.
• http://wonkette.com/402855/barack-obama-secretly-loved-commissions-before-he-hated-them.
• http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html.
• http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002Fmdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm109mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20060525-16.xmlElementm0m0m0m.
• http://deadenders.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/mccain-warned-about-fannie-freddie-in-2005/#comment-164.
• http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/john-mccains-fannie-maefreddie-mac-warnings-may-2006/.