thinkprogress.org — Speaking in Colorado this weekend, Gov. Sarah Palin tried to explain the recent federal bailout by claiming that lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, however, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies.
Sep 8, 2008 View in Crawl 4
pinkpackratSep 8, 2008
They are taxpayer funded now--that's for sure.
sciencedocSep 8, 2008
She has the brain of a Pit Bull to go with her lipstick. I keep thinking that I will wake up and find out this is a joke. Who could vote for these people?
dreicherSep 8, 2008
The FHLMC receives no direct federal government aid. However, the corporation and the securities it issues are thought to benefit from government subsidies. The Congressional Budget Office writes, "There have been no federal appropriations for cash payments or guarantee subsidies. But in the place of federal funds the government provides considerable unpriced benefits to the enterprises... Government-sponsored enterprises are costly to the government and taxpayers... the benefit is currently worth $6.5 billion annually."-Congressional Budget Office, Assessing the Public Costs and Benefits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, May 1996And, of course, none of the current crop of Democrats will tell you that Fannie Mae was instituted as part of the New Deal (the Democrats) 70 years ago and like most liberal/welfare programs never outlived its usefulness only getting bigger and bigger until it finally imploded on itself and will end up costing the taxpayers of the U.S. untold billions of dollars to "save".
prophasiSep 9, 2008
This is a big mistake.Then again, Obama's plan for universal health care coverage, with no mandate and yet no discrimination against pre-existing conditions, is one of the most economically illiterate things I think I've heard a politician say in a long time (and it has the recent "sconomic stimulus" package to compete against). By that plan, only the ailing will opt in, the healthy will stay out, and the system will collapse with insufficient funding.Palin's error is one of fact. Obama's is one of fundamental logic, which is far worse. Not that I'll be voting for either one of these atrocious parties, anyway -- their stated goals are different, but the results are all too familiar.
pdaisaokSep 9, 2008
Or you could just goto Fannie Mae's website...<a class="user" href="http://www.fanniemae.com/faq/faq8.jhtml?p=FAQ">http://www.fanniemae.com/faq/faq8.jhtml?p=FAQ</a>"Is Fannie Mae a private company or is it part of the government?First established in 1938 as a government agency, Fannie Mae in 1968 became a private, shareholder-owned company with a charter from Congress requiring the company to support the housing finance system. It is a financial services company serving the American home mortgage industry. The company offers banks and other mortgage lenders financing, credit guarantees, technology and services so lenders can make more home loans to more consumers. Fannie Mae's stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (FNM/NYSE)."
st00f72Sep 9, 2008
totalling 200BThe Treasury Department said it was prepared to put up as much as $100 billion over time in each of the companies if needed to keep them from going broke...<a class="user" href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008161349_apmortgagegiantscrisis.html">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstech ...</a>
zeitgeist101Sep 9, 2008
there is not one single good reason to vote for McSame. NOT ONE
webxlSep 25, 2008
they are now!