Posted by
Michael DeWeese on Monday, October 06, 2008 4:19:04 PM
The Top 25 Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions from 1989-2008
Name - Office - Party-State - Total
1. Dodd, Christopher - JS - D-CT - $133,900
2. Kerry, John - S - D-MA - $111,000
3. Obama, Barack - S - D-IL - $105,849
4. Clinton, Hillary - S - D-NY - $75,550
5. Kanjorski, Paul E - H - D-PA - $65,500
6. Bennett, Robert F - S - R-UT - $61,499
7. Johnson, Tim - S - D-SD - $61,000
8. Conrad, Kent - S - D-ND - $58,991
9. Davis, Tom - H - R-VA - $55,499
10. Bond, Christopher - S - R-MO - $55,400
11. Bachus, Spencer - H - R-AL - $55,300
12. Shelby, Richard C - S - R-AL - $55,000
13. Emanuel, Rahm - H - D-IL - $51,750
14. Reed, Jack - S - D-RI - $50,750
15. Carper, Tom - S - D-DE - $44,389
16. Frank, Barney - H - D-MA - $40,100
17. Maloney, Carolyn - H - D-NY - $38,750
18. Bean, Melissa - H - D-IL - $37,249
19. Blunt, Roy - H - R-MO - $36,500
20. Pryce, Deborah - H - R-OH - $34,750
21. Miller, Gary - H - R-CA - $33,000
22. Pelosi, Nancy - H - D-CA - $32,750
23. Reynolds, Tom - H - R-NY - $32,700
24. Hoyer, Steny H - H - D-MD - $30,500
25. Hooley, Darlene - H - D-OR - $28,750
Previous Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and two top executives where fined $31.4 million in April 2008 for their role in an accounting, or "cooking the boooks", scandal. This was so executives at Fannie Mae could receive multi-million dollar bonuses and incentives.
Any attempt to create any regulatory legislature was derailed by lobby pressure from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Efforts started in 2004/2005 to put them under the supervision of a world class regulator at a new agency within the Department of the Treasury among them. John McCain signed onto this as a co sponsor in 2006. The changes where blocked in committee or by other means for the reasons stated by Representative Frank, Barney H D-MA, $40,100 16th on the list, He said "These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis, the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." Representative Mel Watt(D-NC) added "I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing."
Another executive at Fannie Mae, Financial officer James Johnson, joined the Barack Obama campaign to watch over their investment. He picked the Vice Presidential nominee. James Johnson had to resign from the campaign when he and Dodd, Christopher JS D-CT $133,900, first on the list, were implicated for receiving preferential mortgage deals from Countrywide.
It is interesting that Barack Obama is third on the list after such a brief political career. I wonder what he is expected to do for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His sole executive experience, as a community organizer, included forceing banks to make sub prime loans to the poor and drive business to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A harbinger of things to come.