Ethics

McCain and the Fannie and Freddie Lobbyists

By Ed Brayton

I somehow missed this last week, an op-ed written by John McCain and Sarah Palin in the Wall Street Journal about the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Wait till you see the chutzpah here:

Enduring reform of Fannie and Freddie is a key first step. We will make sure that they are permanently restructured and downsized, and no longer use taxpayer backing to serve lobbyists, management, boards and shareholders.

Treasury has broadly followed the McCain plan, outlined months ago, and gets at the short-term heart of the problem. That plan reinforces the federal commitment to meet our obligations and get this mess behind us. It replaces management and board members. It requires that shareholders take losses first. It puts taxpayers first in line for any repayments. And it terminates future lobbying, which was one of the primary contributors to this great debacle.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on September 23, 2008 (boomark / email).