A year old press release from the US Treasury:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson (L) listens to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson speak after their meeting with the Hope Now alliance at the Treasury in Washington October 31, 2007. The Hope Now alliance is trying to reach struggling homeowners and help them avoid preventable foreclosures.

Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Announcement of New Private Sector Alliance – HOPE NOW

October 10, 2007

Washington, DC–Thank you, Secretary Jackson, for being here today. And thank you to everyone here today with one common objective – helping homeowners stay in their homes. We all know well the turmoil in today’s mortgage markets. A combination of stagnant or falling house prices, low down payment mortgages and resetting adjustable-rate mortgage rates are creating real challenges for many American homeowners. More and more homeowners are having trouble meeting their monthly mortgage payments, and foreclosure rates have risen in recent quarters. Foreclosures are painful not only for families, but also for neighborhoods, for mortgage servicers, for mortgage investors, and for the economy as a whole. This morning, I welcome you all here to applaud a new alliance of mortgage market participants who recognize that cost, and are stepping up efforts to prevent it for as many families as possible.

On August 31, President Bush announced a foreclosure prevention initiative. He asked Secretary Jackson and me to spearhead an effort to identify struggling homeowners and help as many as possible to keep their primary residences. We have been meeting with the nation’s leading mortgage counselors, mortgage servicers, lenders, investors and other industry experts to explore their ideas on how to reach and help homeowners.

We learned that many individual participants are already actively engaged. Leading mortgage servicers have increased their outreach to borrowers who may need help. Mortgage counselors have been working hard to support the large numbers of homeowners who are calling them and asking for help. State and local governments across the country have started innovative programs targeted at people and neighborhoods hit worst by the market downturn.

Each of these steps is critical, and each has an impact. But we also know that we will not be nearly as effective as we need to be unless everyone is working together. Only through better integration of their efforts can mortgage counselors and mortgage servicers reach the greatest number of borrowers facing payments they can’t meet and only with increased coordination can they be more effective in finding solutions for those homeowners.

Today, for the first time, 11 of the largest mortgage servicers representing 60 percent of the mortgages in America, several of the leading mortgage counselors, investors, and large trade organizations have come together and formed a partnership to help more Americans keep their homes. These leaders recognize that by working together, coordinating and scaling up their activities, they will be able to work toward the goal to help more homeowners.

Their partnership, called HOPE NOW, has put together an aggressive plan to reach more homeowners and help them find a way to stay in their homes. And I’m glad to see the American Securitization Forum, representing investors as well as servicers, is joining this alliance, recognizing that mortgage investors also have an interest in expanding the reach of mortgage counselors to prevent foreclosures whenever possible…

Here are some of the groups that are involved:

(Click on link for the full list)

Regular readers will recognize a lot of the usual suspects, such as ACORN, La Raza and the National Urban League.

Many if not all of these same groups got another slice of pie in the July 2008 housing bill. And they were slated to get still more in the bailout plan currently under discussion.

And just what was “Hope Now” hoping to accomplish?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HOPE NOW?

HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, servicers, investors, and other mortgage market participants to maximize outreach efforts to at-risk homeowners and help them stay in their homes. 

If I can’t pay my mortgage, why should I call my mortgage lender/servicer?

Your mortgage lender can help you identify the options available to you, should you have trouble paying your mortgage…

What is a loan workout?

Either a loan modification or a repayment plan.

What is a loan modification?

A modification occurs any time any term of the original loan contract is permanently altered.  This can involved a reduction in the interest rate, forgiveness of a portion of principal or extension of the maturity date of the loan.

What is a repayment plan?

A plan that allows the borrower to become current and catch up on missed payments that are appropriate to the borrower’s circumstances.

And, believe it or not, ACORN, La Raza and the National Urban League soon began to criticize this program for trying to establish repayment plans, rather than actually modifying the terms of the mortgage.

That is to say, they were furious when some people were still asked to pay back a portion of their loans rather than just being given their houses for free.

The outrage.

More hard-hitting investigative journalism from the laughable Associated Press:

[AP photo and caption:] Protesters hold signs at a Hold Palin Accountable rally organized by Alaskans For Truth, in Anchorage, Alaska Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. Hundreds of people showed up to demand Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s GOP running mate, uphold her promise to cooperate with the state Legislature’s investigation into her firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

AP Investigation: Palin got zoning aid, gifts  

Sep 28
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) – Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception—and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free “awesome facial” she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The “absolutely gorgeous flowers” she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.

She also stepped in to help friends or neighbors with City Hall dealings. She asked the City Council to add a friend to the list of speakers at a 2002 meeting—and then the friend got up and asked them to give his radio station advertising business.

That year, records show, she tried to help a neighbor and political contributor fighting City Hall over his small lakeside development. Palin wanted the city to refund some of the man’s fees, but the city attorney told the mayor she didn’t have the authority…

Some of her first actions after being elected mayor in 1996 raised possible ethical red flags: She cast the tie-breaking vote to propose a tax exemption on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one, and backed the city’s repeal of all taxes a year later on planes, snow machines and other personal property. She also asked the council to consider looser rules for snow machine races. Palin and her husband, Todd, a champion racer, co-owned a snow machine store at the time…

She sometimes followed a cautious path in the face of real or potential conflicts—for example, stepping away from the table in 1997 when the council considered a grant for the Iron Dog snow machine race in which her husband competes.

But mostly, like other Wasilla elected officials at the time, she took an active role on issues that directly affected and sometimes benefited her. Her efforts to clear the way for the $327,000 sale of the Palin family home on Lake Wasilla is an example.

Two months before Palin’s tenure as mayor ended in 2002, she asked city planning officials to forgive zoning violations so she could sell her house. Palin had a buyer, but he wouldn’t close the deal unless she persuaded the city to waive the violations with a code variance…

The Palins’ house was built by the original owner too close to the shoreline and too close to adjacent properties on each side, including a carport that stretched so far over it nearly connected the two houses.

The Palins didn’t create the zoning problems, but they should have known about them when they bought the house, wrote Susan Lee, a code compliance officer with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, in response to the Palins’ request…

On Sept. 10, 2002, the seven-member Wasilla Planning Commission unanimously approved a variance for both sides of the property, with language covering “all existing structures.” Less than a week later, the Palins signed a deed to sell the house to Henry Nosek.

The carport was never removed…

How many professional investigators in Alaska does it take to smear a Sarah Palin?

The Associated Press is breathlessly outraged about Sarah Palin getting a facial and free salmon while our country faces a financial meltdown orchestrated by the Democrat Party, including Joe Biden — and yes, Barack Obama.

[Palin] she took an active role on issues that directly affected and sometimes benefited her.

Something of course that Joe Biden nor Barack Obama have never done.

If it weren’t for their bias we would have no media at all. Which, come to think of it, is the case.

We have a one party propaganda machine which pretends to be our watchdog media.

By the way, here is a photo from the anti-Palin demonstration mentioned in the AP’s photo caption at the top:

(Click to enlarge)

See the “hundreds of people”? — We don’t either.

But we do see how the AP endlessly carries water for their Democrat masters.

Someone should tell our media that Lincoln freed the slaves.

From the Obama campaign back in March of this year:

These “fellowship programs” are an adjunct to the “How To Become An Alinsky Street Organizer” indoctrination camps.

(Click to enlarge)

And the Obama folks and the rest of the radical left have not been shy about them:

Daily Kos: Obama “Fellows” will Organize Regardless of Nominee
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/6/11170/54536

Marc Ambinder (June 13, 2008) – What The 3,600 Are Actually Doing
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/06/what_the_3600_are_actually_doi.php

The Democratic Party | PartyBuilder | Barack Obama’s Blog: Obama Organizing Fellows
http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/barackobama/CcT5

Obama Organizing Fellows
http://www.black-collegian.com/news/organizing_fellows_0408.htm

Who’s missing from the Obama Organizing Fellowship? « John Bracken
http://bracken.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/obamafellowship/

Obama Organizing Fellows Training Begins Today – Eyes On Obama
http://www.eyesonobama.com/news/item/v_20576

Technorati: Discussion about “Obama Maps a Nationwide Push in G.O.P.
Strongholds”
http://technorati.com/articles/z6z57nE9ha1fhpV2wrquvfbi4NspJbfPq3mQKivz0vY%253D

More than 10,000 grassroots activists applied for Obama Organizing Fellowships | WesPac | Securing America Community
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15784

Organizing for Change: An Inside Look at Obama For Americas Grassroots Strategy | Netroots Nation
http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/node/952

Obama Dispatching 3,600 Organizing Fellows
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/13/obama-dispatching-3600-or_n_106912.html

Campaign Emails: Obama’s Organizing Fellows
http://campaignemails.blogspot.com/2008/05/obamas-organizing-fellows.html

Daily Kos: Obama Organizing Fellows: Volunteer Opportunity
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/29/131616/694/394/486759

Obama Campaign Dispatching Thousands
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203658_pf.html

Barack Announces “Obama Organizing Fellows” – Truveo
http://jp.truveo.com/Barack-Announces-Obama-Organizing-Fellows/id/2527004609

Obama Fellowships Launches (and Other Training Opportunities) | Future Majority
http://www.futuremajority.com/node/1079

BlueOregon: Eleven Obama Fellows Arrive in Jackson County
http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/06/eleven-obama-fe.html

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Apply to be an Obama Organizing Fellow
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/fellowsapp

Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip Blog Archive Obama’s Magic ‘Fellows’ Will Crush Hillary’s Lady Army
http://wonkette.com/374929/obamas-magic-fellows-will-crush-hillarys-lady-army

Obama Kicks Off His Organizing Fellows Program | Progress Illinois
http://www.progressillinois.com/2008/06/16/obamas-organizing-fellows

Texans For Obama – Barack Obama in ’08. Texas, lead the movement, speak your mind, change our country.
http://www.texansforobama.com

Obama Organizing Fellowship summer program « The Learning Curve
http://tomwfox.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/obama-organizing-fellowship-summer-program/

Disaboom | barackobama | Obama Organizing Fellows: Less than two weeks left to apply
http://tinyurl.com/3rlx7f

Barack Oblogger: Be an Obama Organizing Fellow
http://www.barackoblogger.com/2008/05/be-obama-organizing-fellow.html

Meetings and Events – Democratic Women Meeting – Guest Speakers: Obama Organizing Fellows
http://tinyurl.com/3nzytv

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Obama Organizing Fellows of Regions 1, 2 &4, Chester County
http://illinois.barackobama.com/page/group/ObamaOrganizingFellowsofRegions124Cheste

Barack Obama for President – Obama Biden – Webcastr Blog Archive Obama Organizing Fellows Training Begins Today
http://barack-obama.webcastr.com/barack-obama-official-blog-feed/obama-organizing-fellows-training-begins-today.html

Obama Organizing Fellow
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/obama-organizing-fellow

The SideTrack: Coalition Building: Obama Organizing Fellows
http://thesidetrack.blogspot.com/2008/04/coalition-building-obama-organizing.html

Anyone who isn’t troubled by all of this does not know history.

This is not the way Americans do politics.

We don’t have indoctrination camps. We don’t teach how to agitate. We don’t build “movements.”

So why haven’t our watchdog media been covering these deeply unsettling developments?

Just kidding. Of course we know why.

(Thanks to Right2thepoint for the heads up.)

From a year old story from the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Jocelyn Woodards, director of Camp Obama, trains Barack Obama supporters Sunday to campaign for the Illinois senator.

‘Ruthless’ for Obama

WEST LOOP | Intensive course gets volunteers fired up, turns them into activists

September 4, 2007

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/apallasch@suntimes.com

“The next tip is to be absolutely ruthless,” Jocelyn Woodards tells the campers. “We want you to be determined, ambitious, take a risk.”

No toasted marshmallows here. This is the second day of Camp Obama, a two-day (sometimes four-day) intensive training course in becoming an activist to help get Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) elected president.

“It’s not enough for you to be a supporter of Barack. You have to go out and build an organization that will deliver votes for Barack Obama,” Woodards tells the 40 campers — most in their 20s — from around the country gathered at the campaign’s national headquarters in the West Loop.

Obama is not like other candidates, and part of this training is learning to mimic the methods he used before he was an elected official — back when he was a community organizer in Chicago following the textbook of legendary agitator Saul Alinsky.

Saul Alinsky wanted results

Rivals of Obama know that while he may at times appear to channel Martin Luther King Jr., his methods sometimes give evidence of his allegiance to Alinsky, who shunned starry-eyed idealists and recommended purging do-gooders from organizations. Alinsky wanted results. And his methods often forced the hands of elected officials.

It’s not enough to want to help others, Woodards says. These campers need to focus on people’s self-interests. What do they want? How can Obama help them?

“We want you to stop thinking about Barack Obama and be Barack Obama,” she says.

“What do you want?” Woodards asks Katie Murphy, 30, of Bartlett. Since her son was born with a heart defect 10 months ago, Murphy has had to stay home to give him constant care and fight with the insurance company about what expenses are and are not covered. Murphy wants a better national health-care plan.

“I want my brother to come back from Baghdad,” says Kris Kolky, 26, of Michigan, who just finished law school.

There are campers from Maine and California, African immigrants and a woman from Kentucky who was considering leaving the country as her job went non-union and her pay dropped from $12 to $10 an hour. They have paid their way to Chicago because they think Obama can be an agent of change.

Woodards, an Obama campaign staffer who used to work for the Democratic National Committee, tells the campers to break up into groups of two and spend 20 minutes at a time just listening to each other.

“Listening, listening, listening. Listening is the No. 1 tool,” she says. They hold a mock Iowa caucus in which campers learn to try to lure other candidates’ supporters to Obama during re-alignment periods.

Whether they are going on to Iowa or other early primary states or back to their home states or neighborhoods, they need to start pinpointing community leaders and clergy, and start building an actual organization, Woodards tells them.

Building alliances

Just about all the candidates’ campaigns do some version of this volunteer training but others don’t have the candidates’ own backgrounds to draw on in mapping out the training regimen. Alinsky had been dead for a decade when Obama came to organize in Chicago in the ’80s, but his disciples were here ready to train him as Woodards is ready to train the volunteers.

“The first thing I did when I came back to Arizona was to join a volunteer group called Arizonans for Obama,” said Alice Cho, a graduate of a camp held here two weeks ago. She has been going to every informal Democratic gathering she can in her up-to-now very Republican state, passing out Obama buttons and trying to build relationships and a structure that will last beyond this election.

And behold some of the fruit of these camps, from the Obama campaign’s Illinois HQ Blog:

Camp Obama – Normal, IL

By Adam Hitchcock – Sep 29th, 2007

Jonathan Moore, the Illinois State University SFBO Chapter Coordinator, wanted to share his experience at the Camp Obama sessions in Normal, IL …

Last weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Camp Obama in Normal, IL. Being new to the world of campaign politics and campaign organizing, I really found the Camp to be incredibly helpful. Currently, I am the Illinois State University SFBO Chapter Coordinator and a lot of what I do revolves around community and campus organizing. I couldn’t possibly put into words the value that I obtained from Camp Obama. The training program taught me the ABC’s of how to be an effective community organizer.

I was fortunate enough to hear from Mr. Mike Kruglig, who is the man that gave a young Barack Obama his first opportunity as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Kruglig early before the Camp started. While we waited for the Bone Student Center to open its doors, Mr. Kruglig spoke to me about the importance of being able to connect with people. One of the most important skills of a community organizer is to be able to tap into each individual’s self-interest. He told me that Barack was gifted at this and that it is one of the reasons he has become so successful and so well-liked in our country.

These points were later reiterated during Camp Obama, and these are the skills that I believe will help me become a more effective community organizer.

I also had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Tari Renner from Illinois Wesleyan University. Dr. Renner explained the science of the election process and gave us an outline of what our goals should be as community organizers for Sen. Obama. Then we heard from some of the Policy Department staff led by Mr. Larry Strickling. They gave us a wealth of information about the positions that Sen. Obama has taken a wide-range of issues facing our country. This was very helpful for when we go canvassing in states such as Iowa, because we have heard from the policy team directly and we’ll be able to communicate the campaign’s message more clearly and comprehensively.

The Camp Obama organizers even ran a Mock Caucus that the attendees really enjoyed. It was very exciting and chaotic and it got me motivated for the actual January Caucus in Iowa.

The best part about our Camp Obama in Normal, was the people. I met so many wonderful supporters who were all giving up a weekend to come and learn from some of the best and the brightest about how they can best help Senator Barack Obama get elected President of the United States. I was able to meet with other Chapter Coordinators from around Central and Southern Illinois like, Alex Enyart from Knox College, Anna Ruch from Bradley University, and Carolyn Hull from Illinois Wesleyan University. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of them so we can share our stories, advice, ideas, and generally brainstorm with each other.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to put this entire thing together. I thought Jocelyn Woodards, Director of Camp Obama, did a fantastic job putting so many intelligent and hard working people (both speakers and attendees) and coordinating their efforts to grow this grassroots movement. I can’t imagine how much work went into putting it all together and I want to personally thank her for it.

Attending this Camp Obama training program was a life changing experience and it began my evolution from a Barack Obama supporter and volunteer to a Barack Obama organizer. So, I hope to take all I learned from Camp Obama and put it into practice here at Illinois State University. So I’m FIRED UP and I’m READY TO GO! And I think Barack Obama and his community of organizers are ready to shake up the world!

And, yes, all of the tactics described are right out of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules For Radicals.”

Ms. Woodward and the rest of the professional street agitators are teaching these kids exactly the same thing Mr. Obama taught his charges when he worked for ACORN’s notorious “Project Vote.”

They are the same “tactics” Obama went on to use for his first campaign, and every campaign since.

Of course these four-day Alinsky training courses are done in coordination with all the usual suspects:

(Click images to enlarge)

These indoctrination centers have been set up all over the country — in Illinois, California, Nevada, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina…

No wonder the Hillary people didn’t know what hit them in the caucuses. (Which is quite ironic considering that she too is an Alinsky acolyte.)

Let’s hope that the McCain campaign is better prepared.

From an Obama campaign email:

Barack Obama and Roger Fisk

Dear _____

Hi, my name is Roger Fisk and I’m the State Director for the Obama campaign here in Massachusetts. I want to tell you about an exciting program we’re launching called Camp Obama.

During these training sessions, people like you will be taking their support for Barack to the next level by learning the organizing principles that this campaign and our movement for change are built on.

Camp Obama attendees will receive real world organizing experience that will have a direct impact on this election. Graduates of Camp Obama will go on to become Deputy Field Organizers who will lead this campaign to victory in crucial battleground states around the country.

Find out more about this exciting opportunity to take a leadership role in this movement for change.

By participating in Camp Obama, you’ll get the kind of experience that Barack got as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he learned that real change happens from the bottom up.

That experience transformed Barack’s life and made him who he is today.

Camp Obama is your chance to put those very same principles into action – to win this election and to strengthen democracy in communities around the country.

After completing the program, you’ll be required to work as a Deputy Field Organizer in a battleground state where you’ll organize supporters and help lead our grassroots Get Out The Vote operation.

Apply for a spot at Camp Obama and become a leader in our movement for change:

http://ma.barackobama.com/CampObamaMA

This campaign relies on the passion and enthusiasm of ordinary supporters, but it needs leaders who can organize these supporters and turn their enthusiasm into votes on Election Day.

Camp Obama is your chance to step up and become a leader in this movement.

Thanks,

Roger

Roger Fisk
Massachusetts State Director Obama for America

Visit: MA.BarackObama.com | Email: Massachusetts@BarackObama.com

Paid for by Obama for America

And just in case they pull down that site, here are some screen grabs of the “application form”:

And they aren’t just doing this in Massachusetts, but in other states such as California:

(Click images to enlarge)

Yes indeed, you too can learn how to steal elections, the ACORN/Chicago machine way.

Alinksy lives!

First, a little back ground on this story from a January 28, 2008 report out of the Kansas City (MO) TV news station KMBC:

Obama Supporters Start ‘Truth Squad’ In Missouri

The Missouri Democrats who support Barack Obama are starting a so-called truth squad to stop any attacks on their candidate.

State Auditor Susan Montee and former Democratic Party Leader Joe Carmichael said they hope there is no negative campaigning by Hillary Clinton in Missouri.

Carmichael said, “Barack Obama unites the Democrats. Hillary Clinton unites the Republicans.”

Montee said, “It’s not insurmountable to have Hillary Clinton as our candidate in Missouri. We just have to work a little harder.”

In an interview with KMBC last week, Clinton said she has helped Democrats win in other tough states.

“There is no candidate that can win every vote. That is not realistic, but I did very well with Republicans in New York and we a have a lot of conservative Republicans there,” Clinton told KMBC’s Micheal Mahoney.

But now Missouri’s CBS affiliate KMOV-TV is reporting:

Obama campaign cracks down on misleading TV ads

The Barack Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.

Which has occasioned this press release from (the great) Republican Governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt:

Gov. Blunt Statement on Obama Campaign’s Abusive Use of Missouri Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, September 27, 2008

JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on news reports that have exposed plans by U.S. Senator Barack Obama to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics.

“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.

“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.

“This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts – not a free society.”

Thank Allah there are still a few sane elected officials in responsible positions.

Still, if anyone ever wanted a preview of what the “Fairness Doctrine” would look like under an Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime, here it is.

(Thanks to Mark for the heads up.)

A press release from (the great) House Republican Leader John Boehner:

[Reuters photo and caption:] ACORN hold a rally outside the New York Federal building September 23, 2008.

Dems Want to Reward Scandal-Tarnished “Community Organizing” Group in Economic Rescue Bill

House GOP Fights to Remove ACORN Slush Fund from Economic Rescue Bill; Poison-Pill Proposal Would Ask Taxpayers to Bankroll Group Accused of Voter Fraud Nationwide

Washington, Sep 27 – House Republicans have made clear that they will fight for an economic rescue package that protects the interests of families, seniors, small businesses, and all taxpayers. And as discussions continue in order to forge an agreement that reflects these principles, the American people are taking note of a left-wing giveaway Democrats are pushing to force taxpayers to bankroll a slush fund for a discredited ally of the Democratic Party. At issue is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – better known as ACORN – an organization fraught with controversy for, among other scandals, its fraudulent voter registration activities on behalf of Democratic candidates. Here are just some examples of ACORN’s most recent scandals and unlawful activities:

* “ACORN is a long-time advocacy group with whom Obama was once associated. Recently, though, ACORN workers in two states have pleaded guilty to election fraud, an unlikely recipient of federal largess.” (Fox News Report, 9/26/08)

* “Seven ACORN workers were charged with ‘committing the biggest voter-registration fraud in [Washington] state history.’’ (The Seattle Times, 7/26/07)

* ACORN workers submitted “just over 1,800 new voter registration forms, but there was a problem. The names were made up – all but six of the 1,800 submissions were fakes… The ACORN workers told state investigators that they went to the Seattle public library, sat at a table and filled out the voter registration forms. They made up names, addresses, and Social Security numbers and in some cases plucked names from the phone book. One worker said it was a lot of hard work making up all those names and another said he would sit at home, smoke marijuana and fill out the forms.” (Fox News Channel, 5/02/08)

* “Late last year, a handful of Acorn canvassers in Washington state admitted that they had falsified voter registrations by illegally filling out hundreds of forms with names such as Dennis Hastert, Leon Spinks and Fruito Boy Crispila.” (Wall Street Journal, 7/31/08)

* “Eight workers for a get-out-the-vote effort in St. Louis city and county have pleaded guilty to federal election fraud for submitting false registration cards for the 2006 election, authorities said today. The workers were employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), gathering voter registrations.” (Associated Press, 4/02/08)

* “Acorn has had a number of missteps. This month its founder, Wade Rathke, resigned after news emerged that his brother Dale had embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated groups eight years ago -* information the group kept from law-enforcement authorities and most members. Dale Rathke left the organization only last month.” (Wall Street Journal, 7/31/08)

So how exactly will ACORN be rewarded if the Democrats get their way? Very simple: behind closed doors, ACORN-friendly language was slipped into the Democratic economic rescue proposal by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA).

Take a look:

TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.

1. DEPOSITS. Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).

2. USE OF DEPOSITS. Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)

1. 65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and

2. 35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).

REMAINDER DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY. All amounts remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

What does this mean? The Wall Street Journal breaks it down in an editorial published today:

“What we have here essentially are a pair of government slush funds created in July as part of the Economic Recovery Act that pump tax dollars into the coffers of low-income housing advocacy groups, such as Acorn.”

“Acorn, one of America’s most militant left-wing ‘community activist groups,’ is spending $16 million this year to register Democrats to vote in November. In the past several years, Acorn’s voter registration programs have come under investigation in Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri and Washington, while several of their employees have been convicted of voter fraud…”

That’s right. Rather than returning any profits made in the long-term from the economic rescue package, Democrats want to first reward their radical allies at ACORN for their help – often illegal help – in getting Democrats elected to office. Families, seniors, small businesses, and all American taxpayers deserve better than what Democratic leaders are attempting to jam down their throats.

The rescue package should not become a “Christmas tree” for the Democratic Majority’s far-left wing political agenda that seeks to shower taxpayer dollars upon groups like ACORN. On behalf of beleaguered taxpayers across the nation, House Republicans will continue to fight to remove the ACORN payback and any other Democratic poison pills from the economic rescue package.

He’s right, you know.

And it is about time somebody took on ACORN, the National Council of La Raza, the National Urban League and the rest of the cadre of class warriors who have been enriching themselves at the public trough.

As we have noted previously, these groups have been shaking down the government, meaning everyone who pays taxes, for billions of dollars — for years.

(Thanks to Mark for the heads up.)

Lest we forget, until very recently our media watchdogs were celebrating stories like this as the fulfillment of “the American dream.”

From a one year old article from the New York Times owned Boston Globe:

This 48-year-old man from Colombia is an illegal immigrant who owns a home in Boston, works full-time, and pays taxes.

Quietly living American dream

No laws broken as illegal immigrants obtain loans, buy homes

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff  |  September 18, 2007

He lives in a two-bedroom house hard by the highway in Boston, with flowers out front and a grill in the back. He has raised two children, bought two cars, and filed federal and state income taxes every year.

He blends seamlessly into his neighborhood, except for one thing: This particular homeowner, with his 1,875 square feet of US soil, is an illegal immigrant from Colombia, one of possibly hundreds of thousands of such people nationwide who have grabbed a piece of the American dream.

Their very existence, now coming amid increasing attention on illegal immigrants from Washington policymakers, has sparked new calls for crackdowns on home lending, even as so many illegal immigrants are rising into the middle class and embedding themselves into their communities.

Critics of illegal immigration find it preposterous that unauthorized immigrants can own homes, calling them risky investments for banks. Immigrants counter that many of them are more stable than people think, and they are fueling investment in cities and towns.

“This place is full of people like me,” said the man, 48. He spoke on condition that his name not be published because it is easily found in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, and he fears immigration officials would track him down. “They have houses because the banks gave them a loan.”

Although they lack legal residency, the immigrants find ways to build credit and buy homes: They take jobs, pay bills, open bank accounts, and sign up for credit cards. Many even file tax returns each year using their real names, addresses, and identification numbers issued by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS generally does not share the information with federal immigration agents.

Nothing in federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from owning homes. And banks can legally accept passports, tax identification numbers, and consular cards from people who want to open bank accounts or get home loans, according to the Comptroller of the Currency, a bureau of the US Treasury that regulates national banks.

The Boston homeowner from Colombia said a convergence of events allowed him to buy a $400,000-plus home through a Spanish-speaking broker in 2004.

First, he said, he obtained a real Social Security number and Massachusetts driver’s license from the government in the early 1990s before security crackdowns. Then, he worked three jobs: making pizzas by day, cleaning office towers at night, and delivering soiled hotel linens to the laundry on weekends. To build credit, he opened a bank account and applied for Bank of America and Discover credit cards, which he always pays in full.

On the day he bought the home, he said, he paid $4,000 as a down payment, plus fees. Because of the low down payment, he said, he had a high interest rate of 7.8 percent, which he later lowered by refinancing.

Now, he just cleans office towers from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. five days a week, netting $3,000 a month. He said he covers the $2,400 monthly mortgage with his salary, rent from a tenant, and help from family members who live with him.

He says the effort is worth it, and that he is confident that he can pay back the loan.

“The money you spend on rent is money that you lose,” he said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Rent is a waste.”

Another homeowner in a seaside town in Eastern Massachusetts, a 50-year-old construction worker here illegally from Ireland, said he used an IRS taxpayer identification number to buy a home worth nearly $400,000. Two years ago a friend referred him to a small, local bank that welcomed foreigners. Like the Colombian man, he said he pays all his taxes to the government.

“We’re not sponging off the citizens of the United States,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m not a citizen, but I’m doing my part as a citizen.”

Critics accuse banks of using legal loopholes to essentially sanction illegal immigration, and fear that immigrants who cannot speak English well – or who aren’t financially savvy – would be easy prey for unscrupulous lenders.

US Representative John T. Doolittle, Republican of California, sought to crack down on loans to illegal immigrants this year when he pushed legislation to ban government-sponsored enterprises from giving out residential mortgages based on IRS taxpayer identification numbers.

The requirement passed the House in May as an amendment to another bill and is pending in the Senate.

“It just sort of makes a mockery of our system,” Doolittle said. “You can own a piece of the American dream without being here legally.”

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the national Federation for American Immigration Reform, criticized mortgage lenders and others for selling loans to people who could be deported at any time. “It’s another example of business ignoring the impact that illegal immigration has on society because they think they can make a buck off it,” he said.

Mortgage bankers say they comply with federal laws, and often require additional records, such as letters from employers, to assess whether a borrower can repay a loan.

“It’s not our bank members’ job to determine immigration policy,” said Corey Carlisle, senior director of government affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, a national organization representing more than 3,000 companies. “But . . . they don’t want to make a loan to somebody that’s not going to be able to repay it.”

Lawyers and others say homeownership reveals a different side of illegal immigration – that of immigrants, often in low-income communities, paying taxes and often lowering crime.

“They’re the same as everybody else. They don’t want to keep paying rent,” said lawyer Chris Lavery of the Irish Immigration Center, based in Boston. “People who are illegal immigrants live next door to you.”

The man from Colombia said he and his family feel welcome on their block. The house is small but comfortable, with a dishwasher, microwave, and big-screen TV. On weekends, he likes to fire up the grill and share a beer with neighbors. He recycles paper and cans, like everyone else. A good-service award from the pizzeria he used to work in decorates his living room wall.

Buying a house in Boston was not part of the plan when he arrived in the early 1990s. Instead, he and his family scrimped to build a $70,000 three-bedroom flat in the Colombian city of Medellin, with sparkling views of the city’s hills.

He returned to live there in 1997, but could not find work. Within months, he was back in Boston.

He still owns the apartment in Medellin, but had to rent it to someone else.

“Sometimes I feel like selling that house,” he said, with a grin. “Then I would buy something [else] here.”

Perhaps the ease and indeed impunity with which this was done has been a factor in the financial crises we face today.

Of course we have the ACORN, La Raza and the rest of the Democrat Party to thank for this.

First, let’s look at how Presidential candidate Obama now characterizes his heroic opposition to the war back in 2002.

From a transcript of the first Presidential debate:

LEHRER: Two minutes, how you see the lessons of Iraq, Senator Obama?

OBAMA: Well, this is an area where Senator McCain and I have a fundamental difference because I think the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place.

Now six years ago, I stood up and opposed this war at a time when it was politically risky to do so because I said that not only did we not know how much it was going to cost, what our exit strategy might be, how it would affect our relationships around the world, and whether our intelligence was sound, but also because we hadn’t finished the job in Afghanistan.

We hadn’t caught bin Laden. We hadn’t put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction. Now Senator McCain and President Bush had a very different judgment.

Back in August, Mr. Obama said roughly the same thing at the Saddleback Church debate:

WARRREN: What’s the most gut-wrenching decision you’ve even had to make and what was the process you used to make it?

OBAMA: The opposition to the war in Iraq was as tough a decision that I’ve had to make, not only because there were political consequences but also because Saddam Hussein was a bad person and there was no doubt that he meant America ill. But I was firmly convinced at the time that we did not have strong evidence of weapons of mass destruction and do we know how the Shiites and the Sunnis and the Kurds are going to get along in a post-Saddam situation? What’s our assessment as to how this will affect the battle against terrorists like Al-Qaeda? Have we finished the job in Afghanistan? And now as the war went forward, very difficult about how long do you keep funding the war if you strongly believe that it’s not in America’s national interest. At the same time you don’t want to have troops who are out there without the equipment they need.

As we have previously noted, since becoming a candidate Mr. Obama has repeatedly lied about why he opposed the war.

For we can see what he gave as his justification for opposing it in his oft-mentioned speech in 2002 from the floor of the Illinois Senate:

Remarks of Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama Against Going to War with Iraq

October 2, 2002

Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain. I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism.

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not — we will not — travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

Where does Mr. Obama suggest that “our intelligence was not sound,” or that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction?

In fact, back in 2002 he suggested exactly the opposite:

I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

And where in his supposedly prescient 2002 speech does he suggest that the Shiites, Sunni and Kurds might not get along after Saddam is deposed?

These justifications are no where to be found because he never mentioned them.

Moreover, instead of invading Iraq Mr. Obama suggests that we needed to take on the whole Middle East because of how they oppress their people and tolerate inequality:

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You see, people only become terrorists because they are poor. Just ask Bin Laden.

But last night, as he has in countless other statements war, Mr. Obama claimed he opposed the Iraq war because he knew it would be “a distraction” which would keep us from finishing the job in Afghanistan and catching that product of a deprived childhood, Bin Laden:

We hadn’t caught bin Laden. We hadn’t put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction.

But in 2002, Mr. Obama’s only reference to “distraction” was that he believed that people with ideological agendas were using the war to distract us away from our lack of universal health care, corporate scandals and the worst stock market since the Great Depression:

What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That’s what I’m opposed to.

And, according to this New York Times article from July 26, 2004, Mr. Obama said he was not sure he would have even voted against the Iraq War resolution if he had been given the chance:

THE SPEAKER; A Surprise Senate Contender Reaches His Biggest Stage Yet

By MONICA DAVEY
Published: July 26, 2004

… [Barack Obama] opposed the war in Iraq, and spoke against it during a rally in Chicago in the fall of 2002. He said then that he saw no evidence that Iraq had unconventional weapons that posed a threat, or of any link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

In a recent interview, he declined to criticize Senators Kerry and Edwards for voting to authorize the war, although he said he would not have done the same based on the information he had at the time.

”But, I’m not privy to Senate intelligence reports,” Mr. Obama said. ”What would I have done? I don’t know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made.” …

(Notice that even the first claim in the NYT piece is untrue, as we have demonstrated above.)

So to sum up, Mr. Obama’s current characterizations about why he opposed the war, like so many of his claims during the debate night, are blatantly false.

Which is quite amazing given that Mr. Obama has built his national political career on having had the brilliant judgement to have opposed the war in Iraq. A claim Mr. Clinton has correctly described as “a fairy tale.”

For as we have shown, Mr. Obama did not oppose the war for any of the reasons he now proudly trots out. And he even wavered about his opposition to the war when it was going well.

You have to ask yourself: if Mr. Obama will lie about something this vitally important and obvious, won’t he lie about anything?

Unfortunately, the answer appears to be — yes. 

Some more inconvenient truths, via YouTube:

Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis

It is quite an eye-opener. (So much so we wonder how long Google will allow it to stay on YouTube.)

Note how the Democrats complain about the “lynching” of Mr. Raines. (Who happens to be black.)

And who were these bravos beating up on?

Here are some articles about Mr. Falcon we posted earlier.

From the back pages of the Washington Post:

A Gutsy David Takes On a Goliath

By Cindy Skrzycki
Tuesday, December 28, 2004; Page E01

There are no awards for moxie in regulating, but if such a program is ever established, supporters of Armando Falcon Jr., director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, would probably nominate him. The tiny agency was created in 1992 to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-backed housing financiers with assets and mortgage guarantees adding up to more than $3 trillion…

It has David and Goliath features: a tiny agency taking on a gigantic company; Falcon, an unknown regulator paid $158,100 annually, going up against Fannie Mae chief executive Franklin D. Raines, who received $16.8 million in cash compensation in 2003…

Three months ago, Falcon and his agency dropped a bombshell: a report that concluded Fannie Mae committed numerous accounting and earnings mistakes. The investigation began after members of Congress blamed OFHEO for missing similar problems at Freddie Mac.

Then the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief accountant agreed with OFHEO, directing Fannie Mae to correct its financial statements, a move that could erase $9 billion in reported profit. The SEC and the Justice Department are investigating further, the company’s board has ordered an independent outside review, and shareholders have filed numerous lawsuits. Last week Raines and Fannie Mae’s chief financial officer were forced out by the company’s board, under pressure from OFHEO…

Next, a three year old report in the Washington Post:

False Signatures Aided Fannie Mae Bonuses, Falcon Says

By Kathleen Day and Terence O’Hara
Thursday, April 7, 2005; Page E01

Fannie Mae employees falsified signatures on accounting transactions that helped the company meet earnings targets for 1998, a “manipulation” that triggered multimillion-dollar bonuses for top executives, a federal regulator said yesterday.

Armando Falcon Jr., director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said the entries were related to the movement of $200 million in expenses from 1998 to later periods. The result of the changes was an increase in Fannie Mae’s 1998 earnings per share and the release of a $27.1 million bonus pool for senior executives.

Fannie Mae reported paying the following executive bonuses in 1998: chairman and chief executive James A. Johnson received $1.932 million; Franklin D. Raines, chairman-designate, received $1.11 million; Chief Operating Officer Lawrence M. Small received $1.108 million; Vice Chairman Jamie S. Gorelick received $779,625; Chief Financial Officer J. Timothy Howard received $493,750; and Robert J. Levin, an executive vice president, received $493,750…

Falcon, during congressional testimony and in comments afterward, publicly drew a link for the first time between the falsified signatures, which his agency disclosed last month, and the accounting manipulations that led to bonuses, which OFHEO disclosed in the fall. A Fannie Mae employee has told investigators that financial records from 1999 to 2002 bore his name and signature but were not prepared by him, Falcon testified.

“We have identified several problems involving procedures for preparing, reviewing, authorizing and recording” Fannie Mae’s accounting, Falcon said. His office has said it is sharing all information from its probe with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice…

A spokesman for Fannie Mae, Charles V. Greener, said the company had no comment. Lawyers for Raines and Howard did not return telephone calls seeking comment on whether they knew about the falsified signatures or other problems Falcon cited. Small declined to comment. Gorelick did not return a phone message. The company would not make Levin, who still works there, available…

The accounting scandals are being used by Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.), chairman of the subcommittee that held the hearing, and the Bush administration to move forward on legislation that would increase oversight and curb the growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Baker and others have tried for years to pass such legislation, only to find it defeated by the lobbying efforts of the two companies.

The companies’ accounting scandals have bolstered the position of critics, such as Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. He told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday that the companies’ federal subsidies may not benefit homeowners and that the firms’ large size and dominance of housing markets could pose a threat to the nation’s financial system if they ever fell into trouble.

While there is a general consensus in Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need a new, stronger regulator, Greenspan’s testimony focused largely on the most controversial aspect of the debate: the size of the companies’ portfolios of mortgage assets. Together, the mortgages and mortgage-backed securities that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own total $1.5 trillion, a more than tenfold increase in the past 15 years.

The Fed chairman called on Congress to sharply reduce the two companies’ massive mortgage portfolios “while we can,” saying that without a reduction, they will “inevitably” have major financial problems, causing a crisis in the economy…

Amazing, is it not?

A place for enlightened commentary on the first Obama McCain “debate.”

Let’s hope Mr. McCain does a good job — for all our sakes.

From the DNC’s Associated Press:

The debate is on; McCain agrees to participate

By NEDRA PICKLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican John McCain agreed to attend the first presidential debate Friday night even though Congress doesn’t have a bailout deal, reversing an earlier decision to delay the event until Washington had taken action to address the crisis.

With less than 10 hours until the debate was scheduled to start, the McCain campaign announced that the Arizona senator would travel to the University of Mississippi. The campaign said that afterward McCain would return to Washington to continue working on the financial crisis.

Obama had always planned to attend the debate and was aboard his plane preparing to take off when McCain’s announcement was made. McCain quickly moved to his own private aircraft and headed South with his wife and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his wife, Judith, on board.

The action contradicted the position McCain had taken Wednesday, when he announced, “I’m directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.”

McCain had also said he would suspend all campaign activities, but in reality the campaign just shifted to Washington while the work of trying to win the election went on.

McCain had taken a gamble with the move, trying to appear above politics and as a leader on an issue that had overshadowed the presidential campaign and given him trouble. But Democratic rival Barack Obama had not bowed to McCain’s challenge, and instead questioned why the Republican nominee couldn’t handle two things at once — the debate and involvement in the bailout negotiations.

An Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll out Friday just before McCain’s announcement showed the public overwhelmingly wanted the candidates to debate, 60 percent to 22 percent, with the rest undecided.

By Friday morning, it appeared McCain was looking for a face-saving way to get to the debate even though a deal had not been reached. He met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, before heading to his campaign headquarters and issuing a statement that blamed others in Washington for the failure to reach an agreement.

“John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis,” the statement said. “In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bail out bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.” …

Alas, what a typical Associated Press article.

The action contradicted the position McCain had taken Wednesday, when he announced, “I’m directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.”

Has Mr. McCain “not taken action to address this crisis”? Where is the contradiction, Ms. Pickler?

Hint: there is none.

But once again the AP spins the news for their Democrat masters.