Lawmaker Accused of Fannie Mae Conflict of Interest

By Bill Sammon

WASHINGTON — Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefited from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank’s relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.

Both Frank and Moses assured the Wall Street Journal in 1992 that they took pains to avoid any conflicts of interest. Critics, however, remain skeptical.

“It’s absolutely a conflict,” said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. “He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane?

“If this had been his ex-wife and he was Republican, I would bet every penny I have – or at least what’s not in the stock market – that this would be considered germane,” added Gainor, a T. Boone Pickens Fellow. “But everybody wants to avoid it because he’s gay. It’s the quintessential double standard.”

A top GOP House aide agreed.

“C’mon, he writes housing and banking laws and his boyfriend is a top exec at a firm that stands to gain from those laws?” the aide told FOX News. “No media ever takes note? Imagine what would happen if Frank’s political affiliation was R instead of D? Imagine what the media would say if [GOP former] Chairman [Mike] Oxley’s wife or [GOP presidential nominee John] McCain’s wife was a top exec at Fannie for a decade while they wrote the nation’s housing and banking laws.”

Frank’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432501,00.html

Of course Fox forgets that Pelosi’s PAC’s payments to her husband’s company are conveniently swept under the table by the MSM as well, so it’s much more a Democrat thing than a gay thing.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431866,00.html

South Africa’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a GloMobile ringtone commercial featuring Dunham and his puppet was offensive to Muslims.
Muslims make up 2 percent of South Africa’s population.

Kev – 2 things 1st At least he didn’t say the Muslim would get gang raped if he went to New York (He doesn’t promote violence toward anyone as Burnhard did) and 2nd just wait til we get the ever tolerant one as president. Obama will have him locked up for his act.
Dunham is funny as all get out. Check his site and give him support anyway you can. He isn’t backing down.

McCain abandons efforts in Michigan

Campaign to put more resources in Wisconsin

Washington – After its striking decision to scale back its efforts in the big battleground state of Michigan, Republican John McCain’s campaign confirmed Thursday that it would shift those resources to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Maine.

Wisconsin and Pennsylvania already are major McCain targets, but the addition of Maine is new.

The decision to essentially concede Michigan underscores McCain’s financial disadvantage against Democrat Barack Obama and Obama’s gains in national and state polls in recent weeks, including in Wisconsin.

Michigan was one of five states that voted Democratic in 2004 targeted by McCain. The others are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Hampshire. McCain needs to win one or two important Democratic-leaning states as a cushion against the potential loss of Republican-leaning states.

“Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are two states we feel very strongly about and two states that would be key to putting us toward 270″ electoral votes, McCain political director Mike DuHaime said in a conference call.

Democrat John Kerry won Michigan in 2004, but McCain had identified it early on as a target in light of Obama’s troubles with white working-class voters.

But the terrain in Michigan was never friendly. It has a Democratic governor, and Republican strategists said the state’s poor economy and McCain’s association with the unpopular President Bush proved too much for the GOP nominee to overcome. In 2004, Kerry won Maine, which offers four electoral votes allocated between the statewide winner and the winner in its two congressional districts.

McCain’s decision on Michigan means Obama can shift money to other states such as Virginia, Colorado and North Carolina, where he is trying to eat into traditional Republican territory.

Said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe: “This is a meaningful moment strategically. Their narrow path just got narrower.” …

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=802086

I thought the polls said it was over anyway.

From the AP:

World Trade Center Transit Hub Plans Scaled Back, Delayed by Several Years

The owners of the World Trade Center site scaled back designs for a multibillion-dollar transit hub Thursday and delayed other projects by several years, but said costs will still be more than $1 billion over budget.

In a 70-page report on ground zero’s tortured rebuilding process, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the elaborate rail hub will cost $3.2 billion, $700 million more than planned, and should open in 2014.

The planned memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be finished by the tenth anniversary, the report said, except that some of the 500 trees in a cobblestone plaza may not be planted and a visitor’s center may not be open. Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg had publicly urged the agency to guarantee completion by the anniversary.

An underground Sept. 11 museum should open in 2013, four years after that segment’s initial completion date.

Completion of the signature project, a 1,776-foot Freedom Tower now under construction, is about $200 million over budget and will be delayed several months to 2013. Additional parts of the project are also over budget, bringing the final tally to more than $1 billion over estimates.

The agency did not set schedules for four other office towers planned for the site or for a performing arts center, and did not issue a final budget for the memorial.

“While we still face many challenges ahead, we believe we have created a level of certainty and control over this project that has been missing since its inception,” the agency’s executive director, Christopher Ward …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431902,00.html

A billion dollars here, a billion there, and pretty soon you have Fannie Mae.

All of this is taken out of context, of course.

From a disturbed AP:

Shelter Cuts Sandra Bernhard for Saying Palin Would Be Gang-Raped in N.Y.

BOSTON — Comedian Sandra Bernhard says the decision by a women’s shelter to cut her act from its annual benefit was based on a misleading account of what she said about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Bernhard made the remarks last month during her one-woman show in Washington before Palin visited New York to campaign. The 53-year-old comedian said Palin would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” during a diatribe in which she also criticized Palin for opposing abortion rights.

Rosie’s Place, a Boston shelter, announced Wednesday that Bernhard would not take part in its Oct. 16 luncheon, “Funny Women … Serious Business.”

Many women at the shelter have been victims of violence, said public relations director Leemarie Mosca.

“In light of our mission, we don’t think violence against women is a laughing matter,” she said.

Bernhard said she’s “terribly upset” that the shelter cut her act from its annual benefit.

In a statement Wednesday, Bernhard said the decision by Rosie’s Place was based on a misleading account of what she said, and her words were taken out of context.

She said the gang rape comment was part of a larger piece from her one-woman show about “women, racism, freedom and the extreme views of Gov. Sarah Palin.”

“In no way am I making any sort of joke about crimes against women — quite the contrary. I’m speaking out about someone who doesn’t do enough to protect women,” Bernhard said. “I think if you look at the real issues I’m addressing, my intent becomes clear. I am a die-hard advocate for women’s rights, and fully support the work of Rosie’s Place.”

Mosca said the shelter expected to book a replacement. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431617,00.html

Expect her to claim this is “censorship” and a “violation of her First Amendment rights.”

She of course is a die-hard advocate for liberal women’s rights; the rights of conservative women to believe what they do and do what they think is right, not so much.

The original S&L coverage of her comments which were completely ignored by both the network news shows as well as the “entertainment media” shows, can be found here.

From the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

Hollywood stars to push voter signups

By Alan Gathright

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and fellow actors will headline a Saturday college voter registration tour from Denver to Fort Collins for the Barack Obama campaign.

Longoria will be joined by Kal Penn of the television show House and the Harold and Kumar films, and Adam Rodriguez of CSI: Miami as a Monday deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election looms. …

http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....r-signups/

There go two more shows I enjoyed but can no longer watch…

From a triumphant “polls mean everything now!” AP:

Obama’s surge to 7-point poll lead worries GOP strategists

By Liz Sidoti

Barack Obama has surged to a seven- point lead over John McCain one month before the presidential election, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that underscores the mounting concerns of some McCain backers.

With the perilous financial situation at the forefront of voters’ minds, 60 percent in the survey say it’s more important to them to choose a president who would make the right economic decisions than a commander in chief who would make the right decisions on national security. Obama leads among economic voters, with 63 percent support, while McCain is ahead among security voters, with 73 percent.

McCain also lost ground among likely voters on experience, though he still leads on the issue, while Obama’s marks ticked up.

Likely voters now back Obama 48-41 percent over McCain, a dramatic shift from an AP-GfK survey that gave the Republican a slight edge nearly three weeks ago, before Wall Street collapsed and sent ripples across worldwide markets. On top of that, unrelated surveys show Obama beating McCain in several battlegrounds, including Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania – three states critical in the state-by-state fight for the presidency.

Several GOP strategists close to McCain’s campaign privately fret that his chances for victory are starting to slip away.

These Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign, point to several factors: Obama’s gains nationally and in traditionally GOP states, no McCain gain from the first debate, McCain’s struggles with economic issues as the financial crisis has unfolded and deepening skepticism about his running mate, Sarah Palin.

They said McCain’s options for shaking up the race are essentially limited to game-changing performances in the final presidential debates or in Palin’s vice presidential debate with Joe Biden tonight. Short of that, they said, McCain can do little but hope Obama stumbles or an outside event breaks his way.

Democrats hope Obama is starting to build a lasting lead.

“We have a light optimism,” said David Redlawsk, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention who teaches political science at the University of Iowa. “We’ve already learned in the last several weeks that we can be whipsawed back very, very quickly.” …

http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....rries-gop/

Stick a fork in it, the campaign is done.

Hell, if Americans really care more about the economy than national security, do the same for the country.

Because the value of your 401(k) will drop a bit when (what’s left of) Wall Street can’t safely be entered for the next few hundred years or so.

But think of the tourist business as Americans flock to see the crater where New York used to be!

More than ever, what we get from this election is what we, as a country deserve, simple as that.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that’s socialism and most Americans are perfectly happy with that and there’s not a damn thing we can do to change it.

Idiocracy, thy time is now.

Michelle wows ‘everyday people’ at CU event

By Lisa Ryckman

For the Garcia family, this has been an Obama kind of week.

On Sunday, they were first in line to snag tickets to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s appearance Monday at Mountain Range High School, which 25 members of the family attended. On Wednesday, just three Garcias came to see Michelle Obama help get out the vote at Farrand Field at the University of Colorado, but they brought a crowd’s worth of enthusiasm.

“Michelle comes across as very caring, very empathetic,” said Charles Garcia, who stood on the sun-splashed expanse of green with wife Delia and daughter-in- law Theresa after Obama’s speech, part of a get-out-the-vote tour. “She’s in tune with the issues of everyday people.”

Everyday people like them, they said.

Thornton resident Garcia, a retired federal employee, said he and his wife, a retired third-grade teacher, have lost more than half of their savings because of the economic crisis. Their daughter-in- law, Theresa Garcia of Denver, said her husband’s loan business has ground to a halt.

“Don’t we deserve a government that speaks to our needs, a Washington that truly understands what regular folks are going through?” asked Obama, who spoke of her life as the daughter of a blue-collar worker with multiple sclerosis, and her husband’s upbringing by a single mother.

“Barack understands that people in America aren’t asking for much,” Obama said. “They just want to know if they get up and work hard every day, they’ll earn enough to take care of their kids. And that after all that hard work and sacrifice, they can retire with a little dignity. They’re not asking for Washington to solve all their problems. They’re just asking for a Washington that understands.”

Both Obamas understand what it’s like to be in debt because of student loans, she said, and what it’s like to be desperately ill and more worried about insurance coverage than getting well. Barack Obama’s mother died at age 53 of ovarian cancer, which health insurance wouldn’t cover because it was a “pre-existing condition,” his wife said.

“Barack has seen what it’s like to struggle – when a mother is doing everything she can to give you a better life,” she said. …

http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....u-boulder/

Let’s see, it’s the left that’s been running around saying the election can’t be about personalities, that people can’t vote based on whether the candidates are “just like them,” that this isn’t “American Idol.”

Yet Michelle is “just like us.” The Obamas “understand what it’s like to be in debt.”

Uh, yeah.

So this couple who have always lived off the Government teat love the liberal Democrat. Big shock.

But they are concerned about their daughter-in-law’s husband’s loan business.

You know, the kind the Democrats say preys on the poor.

Typical liberal disconnect, wouldn’t you say?

Meanwhile, Michelle, how about the fact that your husband also wants to take things away from people he and his cronies believe have “too much.”

In fact he really does understand that they’ll earn enough to take care of their kids.

Because he and his friends will make sure that’s all they have.

Mediocrity and conformity – it’s the Democratic mantra.

I thought that all infomercials were paid advertising, but you could be right. Glad to hear you’re feeling better 1st.

He already had one, it’s called Black Entertainment Television (BET). That doesn’t include his paid advertising channels CBS, NBC & ABC.

Channel 73.

From the Associated Press:

Oprah Winfrey’s Mother Countersues Store Over $156,000 Bill

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

MILWAUKEE — Oprah Winfrey’s mother says she shouldn’t have to pay a nearly $156,000 debt to a high-end fashion store because store officials shouldn’t have extended credit to her…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431191,00.html

[Moved to its own thread.]

DIVISION A—EMERGENCY
2 ECONOMIC STABILIZATION

http://senateconservatives.fil.....uttext.pdf

OMG, it’s 451 pages long.

God help us (USA)!

H/T Redstate

Soros floats alternative bailout plan with Dems

The billionaire financier George Soros, a major Democratic financial backer, is floating his own rescue plan among Democratic lawmakers who are uncertain what to do in the wake of a surprise defeat of a proposed $700 billion rescue package proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Soros has outlined his plan in an opinion editorial in the Financial Times and circulated a concept paper among decision-makers.

Specifically, the liberal philanthropist has proposed that government funds should be used to recapitalize the American banking system by purchasing equity in banks and investment firms.

Democratic Rep. Jim Moran (Va.) scheduled a meeting Tuesday afternoon with Robert Johnson, a former manager of the Soros Fund Management, to discuss the proposal.

http://thehill.com/leading-the.....ml<

Here is Soros’s commentary in the Financial Times:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d68e10.....ck_check=1

Oh brother! Yeah, that’s exactly who we need to fix the economic “crisis”. I can’t believe that he had the audacity to get involved in this. On second thought, I guess I can believe it. Where do you think BO learned his arrogance?