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Fannie and Freddie ARE too big, and have too much control over a central part of the housing market.
As PRIVATE institutions, they have too much power. Especialy considering the really poor oversite which the Federal Reserve Board and Banks have provided the last few years.
So, just what did she say that was incorrect?
Romeo13 on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Are they serious? The taxpayers are footing their (Fan n’ Fred) multi-billion bailout (and credit line)! HuffPo et.al. cannot get away with this– her comment was bullseye.
Pasalubong on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I guess knowing the amount of states in the country is a more complex concept.
SCGOPgirl on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Huffington Post, DailyKOS, Democrat Underground; I don’t care what they post, I won’t go there. It won’t be true, it will only be depressing to think just how many stupid people there are on the planet.
If they get bailed out yeah they are too big for the taxpayers….
if that’s all you got nutroots she’s better than advertised….
“57 uh states”
sven10077 on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
It should have been too big and too expensive for the mortgagees. The taxpyers line is certainly true now that they are getting taken over by the government, aka, taxpayers.
Tennman on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
We’re bailing them out now, so I would say that statement is correct.
Geronimo on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization.”
She just sees the future; that’s all.
The bailout -will- be too expensive for the taxpayer. Instead of keeping the burden on the investors of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; you and I are now responsible for their mis-management. Thanks Washington!
Always ready to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, less so with Palin, eh?
Hell, even the HuffPo piece gives a possible explanation.
There are varying explanations that could be offered for Palin’s defense. As O’Driscoll noted, both Fannie and Freddie “were hybrid institutions because they had private ownership but… an implicit government guarantee which people thought at the end of the day was explicit.” Meanwhile, as Baker noted, as of July the two lenders were being offered low market interest rates by the fed again, theoretically, at the taxpayer’s expense.
Citizen Duck on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
I know what she meant. The crooks who ruined these companies were appointed by the Clinton administration and congress failed to do anything even though it was obvious they were being crooks. It’s not funded by taxpayers (or at least it wasn’t) but it does have an incestuous connection to politicians- a quasi-nationalized company, if you will.
Now, of course, it is too expensive for taxpayers since we’re footing the bill for the bail out, but the alternative would have ruined us and probably rocked the world economy.
There had better be a perp-walk for these crooks and massive investigations into the goings-on that led to such a devastating debacle. I want HARD TIME for these jerks.
NTWR on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
“In other news, Senator Barack Obama today lightheartedly remarked to a Michigan crowd, ‘I’m going to burn you all alive with a flamethrower.’ Obama later explained that he meant, ‘I’m going to give you all free candy for life,’ and promised that unnamed campaign aides would be chastised.”
The ‘too expensive to tax payers,’ I don’t know where that comes from.”
Ummm, are the taxpayers not explicitly on the hook for any debt these monsters own?
VolMagic on September 8, 2008 at 12:47 PM
We’re bailing them out now, so I would say that statement is correct.
Geronimo on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Yeah, as of yesterday they got real expensive. This “gaffe” is going to have no traction.
forest on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
For better or worse, this is the kind of “gaffe” that most people won’t perceive as too egregious — especially as it is breaking news just as Fannie and Freddie are about to become a huge taxpayer burden. I doubt that too many voters are keyed into the inside baseball of the mortgage industry.
(Note, of course, that I am taking HuffPo at their word that additional context wouldn’t completely alter the meaning of the pulled quote…)
Tengripundit on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Sounds like reality has a different definition if you’re a lefty.
4shoes on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
I noticed that and winced a little when she said it. Obama obviously had better coaching when he made his statement. It’s not like he is some sage expert on Fannie and Freddie.
rockmom on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Was she technically incorrect? Sure. Of course, 99% of the electorate would have made the same mistaken assumption. Assuming they even know what she was talking about to begin with.
Newsflash: Presidents aren’t economists. They rely on economic advisers. There aren’t a dozen people on the planet who truly understand the complexities of the global economy (despite the fact that every knucklehead on the Internet pretends to be one of those dozen econo-geniuses).
We don’t hire Presidents to know everything. We hire Presidents to hire the right people, ask the right questions, and manage effectively.
Which is precisely why Palin is enormously more qualified than Obama. She’s at least been in that position. He’s never been close.
Professor Blather on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I’m thinkin’ that AP’s pessimism meter remains at 9.5.
Nothing to see here, move it along please.
aquaviva on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Meanwhile, as Baker noted, as of July the two lenders were being offered low market interest rates by the fed again, theoretically, at the taxpayer’s expense. But, he added, “I kind of doubt she had any sense of that.”
(emphasis mine)
theoretically huh?
Taxpayers have long known that the mortgage giants are backed by government….. it’s stated when they apply for the loan, you morons.
Fanny and Freddie have never been in the proper sense, ‘private’ corporations. She’s righter than she is wronger.
Scribbler on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Mortgage holders are taxpayers.
Were is the gaffe?
Elizabetty on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
“In other news, Senator Barack Obama today lightheartedly remarked to a Michigan crowd, ‘I’m going to burn you all alive with a flamethrower.’ Obama later explained that he meant, ‘I’m going to give you all free candy for life,’ and promised that unnamed campaign aides would be chastised.”
Jim Treacher on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
+ eleventy billion, because you made me snort loud enough to make my son cry. Awesomeness.
I’m also thinking that the media isn’t gonna care about this.
lodge on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
The gaffe is in my question!!
Should be WHERE is the gaffe?
Elizabetty on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Yeah, they may be ‘privately funded’ but they get a lot of sweetheart deals with the government and the feds let them use atrocious accounting practices that would shut down any actually privately-held firm.
Queasy on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I’d say $100 Billion each hits the “too expensive for taxpayers” target. Clearly her comments were not meant to be a statement of past fact, but a stand on the problem at hand.
This imagined “gaff” is a damn joke.
T J Green on September 8, 2008 at 12:53 PM
They sure has heck have gotten too big and too expensive now that we, the taxpayers, are bailing them out to a tune of $100B each.
BowHuntingTexas on September 8, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Newsflash:
Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin just said that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit. Noted scholar and author Abercrombie Ignatius Ditwiller was quoted as saying, “Anyone who thinks a tomato isn’t a fruit isn’t qualified to be President.”
Developing…
fossten on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
“Fannie and Freddie are not big enough or expensive enough”
This would seem to be HuffPo’s idea of a statement without gaffes. Good luck with that, libs.
Buddahpundit on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
it was bound to happen.
venicesurfer on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
So what? Even if she is dead wrong, and even if it qualifies as a gaffe, no-one is perfect. BTW how long after he had been named did Joe Biden make a gaffe? during the acceptance speech? oh yea that’s right. Go Barak America!
HawaiiLwyr on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
I think voters in all 57 states will be appalled at her ignorance.
rivlax on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
More than likely… it’s McCain’s advisors who made the boo-boo. Palin was definitely reading from a teleprompter.
Illinidiva on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Pretty easy to spin out of I would think considering the bailout talk. Yawner if you ask me.
Dash on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Yep. And with the majority of voters against the bailout. You think highlighting this will only help McCain. Obama came out in favor of the bailout – so he’s against public opinion here.
Even before Sunday’s federal takeover her comments had more than a grain of truth to them. With the actions of the Feds yesterday, her comments look dead on and actually make her look ahead of the ballgame.
In other words, please keep highlighting this one, HuffPo.
thirteen28 on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
“gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization.”
How is this a gaffe? It is the truth. This is right up there with Obama’s “muslim faith”.
Don’t tell me, let me guess. Did she talk about “Her Muslim Faith?”
wise_man on September 8, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Meanwhile, as Baker noted, as of July the two lenders were being offered low market interest rates by the fed again, theoretically, at the taxpayer’s expense. But, he added, “I kind of doubt she had any sense of that.”
theoretically huh?
Mcguyver on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Of course it’s theoretical. For Sarah Palin to have REALLY understood that what she said made absolutely perfect sense, she’d have to be smarter than the average Huffpo columnist.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Good Luck selling that to the American Public as a gaffe !
Sounds like straight talk to me.
stenwin77 on September 8, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Huffington Post, DailyKOS, Democrat Underground; I don’t care what they post, I won’t go there.
rockhauler on September 8, 2008 at 12:44 PM
I’ll go over there just to try and paint some lipstick on the Pitbull….
…because otherwise the derangement level and numbers will reach such astronomical figures, that it’ll take an act of congress to fund the sanity of the elites and libtards….
Good luck with that one, HuffPo, especially as all the news programs today are leading with news of the big Freddie Mae, Freddie Mac bailouts.
DelD on September 8, 2008 at 1:02 PM
No Drudge, no gaffe.
aquaviva on September 8, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Let’s not forget this gaffe from Arianna the Traveler ……
Hannity: “Why do you fly in a private jet, why not fly commercial and help save the environment?”
Arianna: “The plane was going there anyway.”
LOL.
fogw on September 8, 2008 at 1:04 PM
I’d say $100 Billion each hits the “too expensive for taxpayers” target. Clearly her comments were not meant to be a statement of past fact, but a stand on the problem at hand.
T J Green on September 8, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Either way, it’s a perfectly correct assessment. Of course the taxpayer “expense” didn’t happen the day the bailout was announced.
The institutions were effectively receiving FDIC insurance from the day they became too big to allow to fail. But they never had to pay any premiums.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 1:04 PM
Even conservative analysts acknowledged that the statement simply did not hold true.
“Heretofore, if the treasury had a balance sheet there would have been a liability but there was never a taxpayer payment before [the bailout],” said Gerald P. O’Driscoll, an economist with the Cato Institute. “[Fannie and Freddie] were not taxpayer funded. They had taxpayer guarantee, which is worth something, especially in the stock market…”
What a laugh! Huge, huge, HUGE taxpayer liabilities are booked every day for Freddie and Fannie and HuffPo is trying to twist O’Driscoll’s words to say that no actual CASH has gone from the taxpayer to those entities, though the promise of such cash is explicit in the guarantee. Clearly, the operation of Freddie and Fannie COST the taxpayers in many ways. Now it is in cash, too.
I seem to remember an argument about the US supplying nothing but loan guarantees for Israel to build in the territories, and all the libs called that “US funded”.
The U.S. government said Sunday it will take control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oust their chief executives.
Although immediate cash won’t be provided, the Treasury will acquire $1 billion of preferred shares in each company and pledge up to $200 billion, according to a report Monday in the Wall Street Journal.
In return the companies — which control more than half the nation’s mortgages — will be under a conservatorship and management control will be in the hands of the Federal Housing Finance Agency….
Besides, the billions of dollars to bail the two out will be paid by whom?
Taxpayers, zip yer wallets. Obama and camp are sniffing.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:09 PM
To be sure the Bush camp are just as guilty of hitting our wallets.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:09 PM
BuckNutty on September 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM
That is beyond sick, and pure evil.
fogw on September 8, 2008 at 1:10 PM
McCain has been attacking the politicians in general, the GOP, Obama, and Bush.
He needs to seriously, along with Palin, begin to attack the Congress, with emphasis about who leads it.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:10 PM
She had likely just been briefed/refreshed on how they were only quasi-private companies, were going to be giant taxpayer liabilities when they die and that the plan was to take them over sooner rather than later.
Voila.
No gaffe. Libs are morons as usual.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:11 PM
How precisely is this a gaffe?
Just because Huffpo says it is doesn’t make it so.
t.ferg on September 8, 2008 at 1:12 PM
More ‘fake but real’ grasping at straws. So they aren’t too big, and aren’t too expensive to taxpayers? Seems like she got it just right.
HelenW on September 8, 2008 at 1:13 PM
the left are a classy bunch. Today they put Trig on ebay as a “used baby prop”.
BuckNutty on September 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM
May they be retributed with a huge loss this Nov.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Read it all the way to the end and you will see the writers assertation that Sarah simply isn’t smart enough to know that. That being that in some ways Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are indeed supported by taxpayers dollars.
There are varying explanations that could be offered for Palin’s defense. As O’Driscoll noted, both Fannie and Freddie “were hybrid institutions because they had private ownership but… an implicit government guarantee which people thought at the end of the day was explicit.” Meanwhile, as Baker noted, as of July the two lenders were being offered low market interest rates by the fed again, theoretically, at the taxpayer’s expense. But, he added, “I kind of doubt she had any sense of that.“
What does a hockey mom from the outback of Alaska know of such big issues, doncha know?
Just to be more explicit, every liability that the US government takes on redices its ability to borrow cash. This means that the US government has to pay more for debt, because of the added liabilities, which comes directly out of the taxpayer’s pocket, in real time.
The size of the guarantees given to Freddie and Fannie were large enough (and misvalued enough!) to affect the credit worthiness of the US government so the amount of actual “taxpayer funding” for those entities has been quite high, even though not in cash disbursements to the entities, themselves.
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Both are/were technically privately owned, but both were created by the US. Gov’t, and were guaranteed implicitly, if not explicity. The were called GSE’s. Government sponsored entities– a hybrid of sorts. Only the taxpayer didn’t get the profits, but is now a guarantor of any losses.
Kudlow has explained a lot about Fanny particularly, and how it got in trouble. It was doing two things at once, one in the public interest, and one in it’s own “private” interest–that being investing in the same CDO’s that most commercial banks did, but Fanny did it with money raised cheaply because it had the implicit US gov’t gtee and could basically raise as much as it wanted to.
Assuming her statement is correct in HuffPo, it is an understatement, and has been true for some years.
JiangxiDad on September 8, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Economists and analysts DKos nutbags and Keith Olbermann pounced on the misstatement,
jdpaz on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Just A Grunt on September 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Sorry. Should have read your comment before posting. Anyone who watches TV financial news could have known what Sarah Palin wasn’t supposed to be able to know. How condescending.
JiangxiDad on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
By the way, the Obama campaign is being heavily funded and advised by Fannie, Freddie, and other wall street execs who siphoned off billions in the housing bubble and mortgage derivative scams.
Remember when Obama announced the $10 million the day after Palin’s speech? A top source on Wall Street reported the money came from absolutely FREAKED OUT Wall Street execs who panicked after watching her speak.
The dirty little secret is that Obama is not just a Marxist but a potential oligarchist. Spread the word.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
It would be nice if people understood what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do. They buy home loans from banks repackage those loans into security instruments like CDOs and SIV’s. They then take these bundled instruments and sell them on the open market (not only to Americian but too other countries like China russia, etc you know those countries that fund our run away spending). They can do this because before yesterday there has always been an implied backing from the Federal government and thus FM and FM were able to get money from the market below market rates. Thus they played the spread between market rates and the rates charged to them. They made money from this spread and from “fees” of selling the home loans packages.
Now with homes prices dropping FM and FM have been unable to sell the home loans packages on the open market. There capital was being eaten up as the home loans built up on there books. With no capital they could not buy the loans from the banks and the banks could not sell their home loans and thus the banks capital was also being eaten up and thus no one was lending money leading to the credit crisis that has dropped the dow 3,000 pts, and increased the loss of home prices.
With the takeover on Sunday the Americian taxpayer just got on the hook for $5 Trillion. I would say that is too expensive for the avg taxpayer. Regardless of that. The loss in stock market vaules of stocks, the loss of home equaity and the loss of jobs caused by this illiquid credit crisis caused in large part because of mismanagement of FM and FM also points to these insitutions being too expensive to the tax payer.
Another smear by the left. McCain campiagn needs to knock this down now. Gov Palin was 100% correct on this issue. FM and FM are too big ($5trillion in home loans) and too expensive ($5 trillion tax libility, loss of stock market vaules, loss of jobs, loss of home equaity) for the tax payer.
This is another example of why liberals should not be handed the keys to our economy. They have no idea what they are talking about.
unseen on September 8, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Well if Fannie and Freddie aren’t private companies (or “quasi governmental”) then this is the first open market bailout of a government agency in history. These companies have common stock trading in the stock market for chrissake. Do the Justice Department or the Department of Agriculture have stock symbols and trade on the open market? F**king nitwits.
F**king libs. Their accusations don’t even make any goddamn sense but that doesn’t stop them from making them.
Django on September 8, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Ahhhhh yessssss. The DUers are weighing in with their usual brand of alleged knowledge.
“They really do think we’re stupid.”
That’s because THEY are stupid in the truest sense of the word.
Republicans are almost universally uneducated, incurious, only inclined to believe those facts that validate their unfounded and inaccurate worldview, and hostile to those who exhibit a more mature and nuanced intellect. For brevity’s sake, THEY ARE STUPID.
They think that the American people will accept outright lies unquestiongly, because they themselves are so predisposed to doing so.
Hopefully John Gibson will use this for a dramatic reading on his show.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 8, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Gee, we can only hope she knows the number of states we have. As the Messiah does — not.
Dr. Charles G. Waugh on September 8, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Gaffe or not, there will be no effect. The MSM has already shot their wa.. cried wolf way too many times regarding Palin anyways.
Palin was right. This will be too expensive for the taxpayer. Hundreds of billions of dollars for a bailout of another “private” company. I’m sure the Marxists over at HuffPo will demand we allow FM&FM to go bust. As we should.
roninacreage on September 8, 2008 at 1:34 PM
The whole intertwining of the Fed Reserve and all this crap in the government just isn’t healthy long-term and it needs to be cleaned up and reorganized into a modern 21st century capitalist system.
Some of the grass roots Dems who backed Ron Paul get that better than most Republicans who sometimes have too much blind faith in these financial dinosaurs. The quasi-governmental stuff is basically as a way to make a few people fabulously wealthy with little personal risk.
And if the thing fails, the taxpayers all get screwed directly and then indirectly as the economy in general tanks. When the government completely takes over it’s often a green light to just steal billions the old fashioned way.
Gov Palin should be in charge of cleaning up all of this stuff as VP.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin just said that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit. Noted scholar and author Abercrombie Ignatius Ditwiller was quoted as saying, “Anyone who thinks a tomato isn’t a fruit isn’t qualified to be President.”
I thought it was a berry since it grows on a vine.
MarkTheGreat on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
What does a hockey mom from the outback of Alaska know of such big issues, doncha know?
Just A Grunt on September 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM
If you presuppose that Sarah Palin is an idiot, then everything that she says is either wrong or scripted.
That’s the whole point of what Bill Clinton describes as “the politics of personal destruction.” The introductory flurry of personal attacks has a purpose. First the liberals plant the seeds, then they reap.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Dave Ramsey was talking about this a while back. It’s dangerous to privatize the success of a company while nationalizing the failure. It sets a nasty precedent, where’s the motivation to succeed? I hope this is a one-time thing never to be repeated.
NTWR on September 8, 2008 at 1:40 PM
It is crucial that we ignore anything about Palin that comes out of the MSM. Anything. We don’t need them for anything anymore. They are the enemy. Don’t even engage their “arguments”.
Halley on September 8, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country’s mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn’t speak well for her, I’d say.”
Interesting since I recently purchased a house and my Mortgage broker made SURE not to go through Freddie or Fannie due to the BS they are in right now.
But Sarah is speaking the truth. Alaska isn’t going thru the same problems with houses like the Lower 48 is at this moment in time. Actually Alaska is growing… the housing market has not dropped but it is a buyer market now.
Dean needs to STFU and look at the WHOLE Nation, not just the Lower 48 and the fact that you can have a mortgage there, but also in other countries as well.
note that the two CEO’s that just got fired from Fannie and Freddie are big libs and Obama supporters. I know atleast one of the new CEO’s, Herb Allison, was in 2000 a McCain supporter and likely the Treasure Dept. is replacing leadership at these outfits with some competence.
Fannie and Freddie have funded in the past, far left groups like ACORN
Jim Cramer showed up on Joe Scarborough’s show, today, and he kept screaming about how Fannie and Freddie were HUGE Dem supporters and how those political connections were the reason they are in trouble. I was kind of amazed to hear this coming out of Cramer (though I don’t really know him) and on MSNBC. It was really something. Cramer made sure he mentioned the Dems twice.
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Cramer is a Dem, although I remember him praising Romney once.
there is a political backstory with this, and likely the right thing is being done. hopefully they will break them up into smaller institutions. We are stuck with it, so question is how best to make them work in the economy.
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:02 PM
Are they serious? The taxpayers are footing their (Fan n’ Fred) multi-billion bailout (and credit line)!
Want to talk about gaffes? How about the big one that caused all this? Legislative refusal to make the necessary reforms before all this happened. Some poster on some site, somewhere put it just right” They decided to let the good times roll”. Maybe the faded darling of the left should look into that if she wants to make herself useful.
jeanie on September 8, 2008 at 2:10 PM
Well, if Palin had a ‘gaffe’ so did Obama and McCain. Both talked, pre-Palin, about the cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and taxpayers.
Sue on September 8, 2008 at 2:10 PM
There’s a whole infrastructure built around those GSE guarantees too, so they’re not just on paper. There is (was) OFHEO, there are (were) a bunch of people working at HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research around GSE oversight (and let’s not forget what GSE stands for), and there are (and have been) GSE Enterprise Risk Assessments that have to be performed — leading to the question “risks to whom, and why?”
I’m a housing economist and I know exactly what she meant. The GSEs are creatures of federal legislation, and with the bailout they have gotten expensive.
I’d still have bailed them out, I hasten to add…
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:12 PM
This was no ‘gaffe’, just a desperate attempt to undercut her Economic creds by the media
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:13 PM
HuffingtonPost is taking her out of context.
The CEO makes 38 million. Now we are going to have to bail them out. Her statement was how the more financial troubles they were having the more expensive it would be to the taxpayers as we have to bail them out.
Huffington Post is dense as hell and is taking her ouf of context.
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they’ve gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers,” Palin said to applause. “The McCain/Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”
ryandan on September 8, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Cramer is a Dem, although I remember him praising Romney once.
I thought he was a Dem, which is why I was shocked that he came down so hard on them. He could have just spoken about “political connections” and most people would have assumed it was a Republican thing, but he was adamant about the Democrat connection. I think even Joe was surprised.
Then the show moved onto something stupid and I had to change the channel.
there is a political backstory with this, and likely the right thing is being done. hopefully they will break them up into smaller institutions. We are stuck with it, so question is how best to make them work in the economy.
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:02 PM
I wish the Fed would start using their power to regulate margin requirements to do some of the fine-tuning that is necessary every so often.
As to having them work best in the economy, that’s tough to do when the political class tells lending institutions who they must lend money to (lest anyone forget how wildly misvalued loan bundles got started in the first place … the politicians decided to become loan officers, stopping ‘red-lining’ and the general refusal of lenders to loan money to bad credit risks).
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Not even a gaffe. Jeez, this is so infuriating. Obama can’t even get his religion right, says there are 57-59 states, breaks his promise to take federal campaign funds, refuses to do town halls, but Palin says something that is actually true, but phrased in a way that can be slightly misconstrued, and BAM!
Priscilla on September 8, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Obama re Fannie & Freddie: costs the taxpayers too much!
MSM analysis: BRILLIANT PREDICTION! HE’S A FREAKING GENIUS
Palin re Fannie & Freddie: costs the taxpayers too much!
MSM analysis: GAFFE GAFFE GAFFE
kiss my a$$, MSM, no one respects you anymore…heh heh heh!
JustTruth101 on September 8, 2008 at 2:23 PM
HA, where the contortionist hang out. Where is the gloom/doom, outrage, about the Socialist program to bail out Bear Stearns and now Fannie and Freddie. Conflict of interest regarding 401k’s and stock investments?
Chimpy on September 8, 2008 at 2:25 PM
One way of reading her statement is that she’s taking a position against the expected government bailout of these companies because they would be too big and expensive for the government to take on.
Dudley Smith on September 8, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Chimpy on September 8, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Gaffe meme squashed, here come the trolls. Deflectors to full!
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:31 PM
She said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
Please explain to me how that happened? They’re two privately owned and run organizations that get no money from the government.
She got it totally wrong. Take the lumps.
Next.
Dave Rywall on September 8, 2008 at 2:31 PM
I’m far more concerned by the fact that the video linked at HuffPo clearly shows a Sleestak in the crowd of supporters behind Palin.
Palin is supported by Sleestaks!? Where’s the media on this?
benjamin on September 8, 2008 at 2:32 PM
article on the new CEO’s adn the ousted CEO’s of Fannie and Freddie
So a Republican “gaff” is when a Republican says something that is accurate?
Kasper Hauser on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
She said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
newsflash libtard, a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie is very “expensive to the taxpayers”.
they aren’t pure private orginizations either, they are hybrids between govt. and private sectors
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
Gee. Mae and Mac. Didn’t they crash after a now-forgotten Senator of an unnamed party said that they were bankrupt? I guess there are gaffes, and then there are gaffes.
andycanuck on September 8, 2008 at 2:42 PM
So they’re saying that taxpayers aren’t going to pay for the bailout?
That’s good news!
drjohn on September 8, 2008 at 2:42 PM
They’re two privately owned and run organizations that get no money from the government.
Not quite true. Most “privately run organizations” don’t have a whole government Office dedicated to their oversight, with a budget in excess of $60 million; most “privately run organizations” don’t necessitate the preparation of Enterprise Risk Assessments through these dedicated Offices, with the explicit goal of such assessments to reduce “risks to taxpayers.”
Dave, this is another case of you not knowing what the f*** you’re talking about. I briefed a HUD Assistant Secretary on GSE performance not two weeks ago. The room was full of people whose salaries are necessitated by federal oversight of FNMA and FHLMC.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:50 PM
newsflash libtard, a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie is very “expensive to the taxpayers”.
they aren’t pure private orginizations either, they are hybrids between govt. and private sectors
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
———-
Yes, fool, obviously the CURRENT bailout is going to cost your grandchildren and their grandchildren much taxes. But hopefully you won’t reproduce.
Palin was claiming the circumstances leading up to the bailout were thus: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
This is 100% incorrect.
Dave Rywall on September 8, 2008 at 2:54 PM
The only domestic issue either of them spoke about specifically was the government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, although Palin did not offer specifics about how the ticket felt about the bailout.
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they’ve gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers,” Palin said to applause. “The McCain/Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”
In the past, McCain has said the two companies “are too big to fail,” and that he’d support “effective action” from the federal government to keep them from going under.
~ From CBS News
The press will take her colloquialisms when it serves their Trailer Trash narrative. They split her comments and add the “had” to make it sound past tense? It’s not what she said, and the fact that there are upwards of 300 internet stories spreading this BS just shows they’re grasping at any and everything. Let’s be clear about this:
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.”
No, you’re 100% incorrect. The sizes of the GSEs’ loan portfolios, the weird accounting and capitalization requirements, and the risks to which taxpayers were exposed (which have real costs in the economy) make “too big and too expensive” an accurate description of the situation.
You’re too desperate to see it, but it’s true.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Palin was claiming the circumstances leading up to the bailout were thus: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
This is 100% incorrect.
Dave Rywall on September 8, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Please. Even the HuffPo used this quote to justify their “point”:
“Heretofore, if the treasury had a balance sheet there would have been a liability but there was never a taxpayer payment before [the bailout],” said Gerald P. O’Driscoll, an economist with the Cato Institute. “[Fannie and Freddie] were not taxpayer funded. They had taxpayer guarantee, which is worth something, especially in the stock market…”
The only gaffe question revolved around the term “funding”, not whether the companies were getting too expensive. Guarantees can be expensive, Einstein, especially when they are based on mispriced assets as in the case with Fannie and Freddie. This alleged gaffe lives in the area between “taking on liabilities for” and “funding of”. The expensive part no one has any doubt about.
As to what these entities really are, go look at their charters instead of just spewing idiocy:
1968 Charter Act
The 1968 Charter Act split Fannie Mae into two parts: Ginnie Mae and a reconstituted Fannie Mae. Ginnie Mae would continue as a federal agency and be responsible for the then-existing special assistance programs, and Fannie Mae would be transformed into a “government-sponsored private corporation” responsible for the self-supporting secondary market operations. The reconstituted Fannie Mae was to be stockholder-owned and managed. Fannie Mae retired the last of its government stock on September 30, 1968, and transformation to a government-sponsored private corporation was completed in 1970.
So how many other “private” companies are “government sponsored” by federal charter? How much does government sponsorship cost the taxpayer?
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Got it Sultry..
“they have gotten to big….. not, “had gotten…
In other news.. there’s AllahPundit sticking to the gaffe meme due to his pessimism meter needle being stuck on high.
I invite everyone to review the last few years’ Congressional testimony by the OFHEO leadership and see how much concern there is expressed by Committee members of both parties for the “exposure” of “taxpayers.”
Hmmmmm.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:10 PM
I found the gaffe.
In the PuffHo piece, it says:
Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, which came before the government had spent funds baling [sic] the two entities out, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding
The government is not baling the two entities out, unless the writer unwittingly means to claim that by putting taxpayers on the hook, government has created a great evil. But this would be an unlikely sentiment for a far left hate site like PuffHo.
jeff_from_mpls on September 8, 2008 at 3:15 PM
While I’m at it, was it a gaffe for Frank and Dodd to make a wish list to be paid for by new taxes on the GSEs?
Doesn’t look so smart now, does it?
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:29 PM
And hey, libs, the GSEs are exempt from State and Local Income Taxes — don’t you consider that a cost?
Blowback
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Uh, no gaff…. she spoke the truth.
Fannie and Freddie ARE too big, and have too much control over a central part of the housing market.
As PRIVATE institutions, they have too much power. Especialy considering the really poor oversite which the Federal Reserve Board and Banks have provided the last few years.
So, just what did she say that was incorrect?
Romeo13 on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Are they serious? The taxpayers are footing their (Fan n’ Fred) multi-billion bailout (and credit line)! HuffPo et.al. cannot get away with this– her comment was bullseye.
Pasalubong on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I guess knowing the amount of states in the country is a more complex concept.
SCGOPgirl on September 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Huffington Post, DailyKOS, Democrat Underground; I don’t care what they post, I won’t go there. It won’t be true, it will only be depressing to think just how many stupid people there are on the planet.
rockhauler on September 8, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Uh good luck considering the feds just took over.
If they get bailed out yeah they are too big for the taxpayers….
if that’s all you got nutroots she’s better than advertised….
“57 uh states”
sven10077 on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
It should have been too big and too expensive for the mortgagees. The taxpyers line is certainly true now that they are getting taken over by the government, aka, taxpayers.
Tennman on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
We’re bailing them out now, so I would say that statement is correct.
Geronimo on September 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
She just sees the future; that’s all.
The bailout -will- be too expensive for the taxpayer. Instead of keeping the burden on the investors of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; you and I are now responsible for their mis-management. Thanks Washington!
lorien1973 on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Always ready to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, less so with Palin, eh?
Hell, even the HuffPo piece gives a possible explanation.
Citizen Duck on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
I know what she meant. The crooks who ruined these companies were appointed by the Clinton administration and congress failed to do anything even though it was obvious they were being crooks. It’s not funded by taxpayers (or at least it wasn’t) but it does have an incestuous connection to politicians- a quasi-nationalized company, if you will.
Now, of course, it is too expensive for taxpayers since we’re footing the bill for the bail out, but the alternative would have ruined us and probably rocked the world economy.
There had better be a perp-walk for these crooks and massive investigations into the goings-on that led to such a devastating debacle. I want HARD TIME for these jerks.
NTWR on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
“In other news, Senator Barack Obama today lightheartedly remarked to a Michigan crowd, ‘I’m going to burn you all alive with a flamethrower.’ Obama later explained that he meant, ‘I’m going to give you all free candy for life,’ and promised that unnamed campaign aides would be chastised.”
Jim Treacher on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
OH…. I see… its “too expensive to the taxpayers”… got it… sorry…
But its been known for weeks now that we were going to bail out Fannie and Freddie… maybe 100’s of billions of taxpayer dollars involved…
Sounds too expensive to me.
Romeo13 on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
They’re so big that if they fall taxpayers will have to foot the bill…
ninjapirate on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
lol
ballz2wallz on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Well, there goes that bounce! /sarc
nickj116 on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
It’s not her fault see can see the future.
lodge on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Well it doesn’t seem like a gaffe to me.
Even if it were, Palin would have to log in 45 gaffes per day to catch up to Barack Obama in just two months.
carbon_footprint on September 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM
They’re not quite private companies. They are heavily government regulated (moreso than regular banks).
Skywise on September 8, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Ummmmm….who is paying to bail out freddie and fannie if not taxpayers?
It's Vintage, Duh on September 8, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Ummm, are the taxpayers not explicitly on the hook for any debt these monsters own?
VolMagic on September 8, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Yeah, as of yesterday they got real expensive. This “gaffe” is going to have no traction.
forest on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
For better or worse, this is the kind of “gaffe” that most people won’t perceive as too egregious — especially as it is breaking news just as Fannie and Freddie are about to become a huge taxpayer burden. I doubt that too many voters are keyed into the inside baseball of the mortgage industry.
(Note, of course, that I am taking HuffPo at their word that additional context wouldn’t completely alter the meaning of the pulled quote…)
Tengripundit on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Sounds like reality has a different definition if you’re a lefty.
4shoes on September 8, 2008 at 12:48 PM
I noticed that and winced a little when she said it. Obama obviously had better coaching when he made his statement. It’s not like he is some sage expert on Fannie and Freddie.
rockmom on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Was she technically incorrect? Sure. Of course, 99% of the electorate would have made the same mistaken assumption. Assuming they even know what she was talking about to begin with.
Newsflash: Presidents aren’t economists. They rely on economic advisers. There aren’t a dozen people on the planet who truly understand the complexities of the global economy (despite the fact that every knucklehead on the Internet pretends to be one of those dozen econo-geniuses).
We don’t hire Presidents to know everything. We hire Presidents to hire the right people, ask the right questions, and manage effectively.
Which is precisely why Palin is enormously more qualified than Obama. She’s at least been in that position. He’s never been close.
Professor Blather on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I’m thinkin’ that AP’s pessimism meter remains at 9.5.
Nothing to see here, move it along please.
aquaviva on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
(emphasis mine)
theoretically huh?
Taxpayers have long known that the mortgage giants are backed by government….. it’s stated when they apply for the loan, you morons.
♪♫ Keep it up… give it your best shot.. ♪♫
Mcguyver on September 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Fanny and Freddie have never been in the proper sense, ‘private’ corporations. She’s righter than she is wronger.
Scribbler on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Mortgage holders are taxpayers.
Were is the gaffe?
Elizabetty on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
+ eleventy billion, because you made me snort loud enough to make my son cry. Awesomeness.
Anna on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Pretty easy to spin out of I would think considering the bailout talk. Yawner if you ask me.
Dash on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Would love to know what Obama might have to say about gaffs.
JellyToast on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I’m also thinking that the media isn’t gonna care about this.
lodge on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
The gaffe is in my question!!
Should be WHERE is the gaffe?
Elizabetty on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Yeah, they may be ‘privately funded’ but they get a lot of sweetheart deals with the government and the feds let them use atrocious accounting practices that would shut down any actually privately-held firm.
Queasy on September 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I’d say $100 Billion each hits the “too expensive for taxpayers” target. Clearly her comments were not meant to be a statement of past fact, but a stand on the problem at hand.
This imagined “gaff” is a damn joke.
T J Green on September 8, 2008 at 12:53 PM
They sure has heck have gotten too big and too expensive now that we, the taxpayers, are bailing them out to a tune of $100B each.
BowHuntingTexas on September 8, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Newsflash:
Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin just said that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit. Noted scholar and author Abercrombie Ignatius Ditwiller was quoted as saying, “Anyone who thinks a tomato isn’t a fruit isn’t qualified to be President.”
Developing…
fossten on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
“Fannie and Freddie are not big enough or expensive enough”
This would seem to be HuffPo’s idea of a statement without gaffes. Good luck with that, libs.
Buddahpundit on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
it was bound to happen.
venicesurfer on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
So what? Even if she is dead wrong, and even if it qualifies as a gaffe, no-one is perfect. BTW how long after he had been named did Joe Biden make a gaffe? during the acceptance speech? oh yea that’s right. Go Barak America!
HawaiiLwyr on September 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
I think voters in all 57 states will be appalled at her ignorance.
rivlax on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
More than likely… it’s McCain’s advisors who made the boo-boo. Palin was definitely reading from a teleprompter.
Illinidiva on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Yep. And with the majority of voters against the bailout. You think highlighting this will only help McCain. Obama came out in favor of the bailout – so he’s against public opinion here.
Rove you magnificent bastard!
lorien1973 on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Even before Sunday’s federal takeover her comments had more than a grain of truth to them. With the actions of the Feds yesterday, her comments look dead on and actually make her look ahead of the ballgame.
In other words, please keep highlighting this one, HuffPo.
thirteen28 on September 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
How is this a gaffe? It is the truth. This is right up there with Obama’s “muslim faith”.
Valiant on September 8, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Don’t tell me, let me guess. Did she talk about “Her Muslim Faith?”
wise_man on September 8, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Of course it’s theoretical. For Sarah Palin to have REALLY understood that what she said made absolutely perfect sense, she’d have to be smarter than the average Huffpo columnist.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Good Luck selling that to the American Public as a gaffe !
Sounds like straight talk to me.
stenwin77 on September 8, 2008 at 12:58 PM
I’ll go over there just to try and paint some lipstick on the Pitbull….
…because otherwise the derangement level and numbers will reach such astronomical figures, that it’ll take an act of congress to fund the sanity of the elites and libtards….
..which could in turn bankrupt out economy.
I’m just saying…
Mcguyver on September 8, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Lol…huffpo
Asher on September 8, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Good luck with that one, HuffPo, especially as all the news programs today are leading with news of the big Freddie Mae, Freddie Mac bailouts.
DelD on September 8, 2008 at 1:02 PM
No Drudge, no gaffe.
aquaviva on September 8, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Let’s not forget this gaffe from Arianna the Traveler ……
LOL.
fogw on September 8, 2008 at 1:04 PM
Either way, it’s a perfectly correct assessment. Of course the taxpayer “expense” didn’t happen the day the bailout was announced.
The institutions were effectively receiving FDIC insurance from the day they became too big to allow to fail. But they never had to pay any premiums.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 1:04 PM
What a laugh! Huge, huge, HUGE taxpayer liabilities are booked every day for Freddie and Fannie and HuffPo is trying to twist O’Driscoll’s words to say that no actual CASH has gone from the taxpayer to those entities, though the promise of such cash is explicit in the guarantee. Clearly, the operation of Freddie and Fannie COST the taxpayers in many ways. Now it is in cash, too.
I seem to remember an argument about the US supplying nothing but loan guarantees for Israel to build in the territories, and all the libs called that “US funded”.
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Sorry.…. my first gaffe.
Mcguyver on September 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM
the left are a classy bunch. Today they put Trig on ebay as a “used baby prop”.
http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2008/09/progressives-put-palins-son-with-downs-syndrome-up-for-bid-on-ebay.html
BuckNutty on September 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Government takes control of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
The U.S. government said Sunday it will take control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oust their chief executives.
Although immediate cash won’t be provided, the Treasury will acquire $1 billion of preferred shares in each company and pledge up to $200 billion, according to a report Monday in the Wall Street Journal.
In return the companies — which control more than half the nation’s mortgages — will be under a conservatorship and management control will be in the hands of the Federal Housing Finance Agency….
more at the link
TheBigOldDog on September 8, 2008 at 1:08 PM
soon as i saw it was Huffy….I disregarded it.
here’s another huffy-big-opps!!…it’s my fave!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/rnc-video-diary-black-rep_b_123477.html
FILED UNDER HuffyGaffes “Our values don’t change because someone’s skin color happens to be the same as ours!.”
lobosan5 on September 8, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Der Gaffenmeister – 89
Mrs. Palin – 1
Besides, the billions of dollars to bail the two out will be paid by whom?
Taxpayers, zip yer wallets. Obama and camp are sniffing.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:09 PM
To be sure the Bush camp are just as guilty of hitting our wallets.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:09 PM
That is beyond sick, and pure evil.
fogw on September 8, 2008 at 1:10 PM
McCain has been attacking the politicians in general, the GOP, Obama, and Bush.
He needs to seriously, along with Palin, begin to attack the Congress, with emphasis about who leads it.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:10 PM
She had likely just been briefed/refreshed on how they were only quasi-private companies, were going to be giant taxpayer liabilities when they die and that the plan was to take them over sooner rather than later.
Voila.
No gaffe. Libs are morons as usual.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:11 PM
How precisely is this a gaffe?
Just because Huffpo says it is doesn’t make it so.
t.ferg on September 8, 2008 at 1:12 PM
More ‘fake but real’ grasping at straws. So they aren’t too big, and aren’t too expensive to taxpayers? Seems like she got it just right.
HelenW on September 8, 2008 at 1:13 PM
May they be retributed with a huge loss this Nov.
Entelechy on September 8, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Read it all the way to the end and you will see the writers assertation that Sarah simply isn’t smart enough to know that. That being that in some ways Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are indeed supported by taxpayers dollars.
What does a hockey mom from the outback of Alaska know of such big issues, doncha know?
Just A Grunt on September 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Just to be more explicit, every liability that the US government takes on redices its ability to borrow cash. This means that the US government has to pay more for debt, because of the added liabilities, which comes directly out of the taxpayer’s pocket, in real time.
The size of the guarantees given to Freddie and Fannie were large enough (and misvalued enough!) to affect the credit worthiness of the US government so the amount of actual “taxpayer funding” for those entities has been quite high, even though not in cash disbursements to the entities, themselves.
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Both are/were technically privately owned, but both were created by the US. Gov’t, and were guaranteed implicitly, if not explicity. The were called GSE’s. Government sponsored entities– a hybrid of sorts. Only the taxpayer didn’t get the profits, but is now a guarantor of any losses.
Kudlow has explained a lot about Fanny particularly, and how it got in trouble. It was doing two things at once, one in the public interest, and one in it’s own “private” interest–that being investing in the same CDO’s that most commercial banks did, but Fanny did it with money raised cheaply because it had the implicit US gov’t gtee and could basically raise as much as it wanted to.
Assuming her statement is correct in HuffPo, it is an understatement, and has been true for some years.
JiangxiDad on September 8, 2008 at 1:15 PM
jdpaz on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Sorry. Should have read your comment before posting. Anyone who watches TV financial news could have known what Sarah Palin wasn’t supposed to be able to know. How condescending.
JiangxiDad on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
By the way, the Obama campaign is being heavily funded and advised by Fannie, Freddie, and other wall street execs who siphoned off billions in the housing bubble and mortgage derivative scams.
Remember when Obama announced the $10 million the day after Palin’s speech? A top source on Wall Street reported the money came from absolutely FREAKED OUT Wall Street execs who panicked after watching her speak.
The dirty little secret is that Obama is not just a Marxist but a potential oligarchist. Spread the word.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:17 PM
It would be nice if people understood what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do. They buy home loans from banks repackage those loans into security instruments like CDOs and SIV’s. They then take these bundled instruments and sell them on the open market (not only to Americian but too other countries like China russia, etc you know those countries that fund our run away spending). They can do this because before yesterday there has always been an implied backing from the Federal government and thus FM and FM were able to get money from the market below market rates. Thus they played the spread between market rates and the rates charged to them. They made money from this spread and from “fees” of selling the home loans packages.
Now with homes prices dropping FM and FM have been unable to sell the home loans packages on the open market. There capital was being eaten up as the home loans built up on there books. With no capital they could not buy the loans from the banks and the banks could not sell their home loans and thus the banks capital was also being eaten up and thus no one was lending money leading to the credit crisis that has dropped the dow 3,000 pts, and increased the loss of home prices.
With the takeover on Sunday the Americian taxpayer just got on the hook for $5 Trillion. I would say that is too expensive for the avg taxpayer. Regardless of that. The loss in stock market vaules of stocks, the loss of home equaity and the loss of jobs caused by this illiquid credit crisis caused in large part because of mismanagement of FM and FM also points to these insitutions being too expensive to the tax payer.
Another smear by the left. McCain campiagn needs to knock this down now. Gov Palin was 100% correct on this issue. FM and FM are too big ($5trillion in home loans) and too expensive ($5 trillion tax libility, loss of stock market vaules, loss of jobs, loss of home equaity) for the tax payer.
This is another example of why liberals should not be handed the keys to our economy. They have no idea what they are talking about.
unseen on September 8, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Well if Fannie and Freddie aren’t private companies (or “quasi governmental”) then this is the first open market bailout of a government agency in history. These companies have common stock trading in the stock market for chrissake. Do the Justice Department or the Department of Agriculture have stock symbols and trade on the open market? F**king nitwits.
F**king libs. Their accusations don’t even make any goddamn sense but that doesn’t stop them from making them.
Django on September 8, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Ahhhhh yessssss. The DUers are weighing in with their usual brand of alleged knowledge.
Hopefully John Gibson will use this for a dramatic reading on his show.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 8, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Gee, we can only hope she knows the number of states we have. As the Messiah does — not.
Dr. Charles G. Waugh on September 8, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Gaffe or not, there will be no effect. The MSM has already
shot their wa..cried wolf way too many times regarding Palin anyways.innominatus on September 8, 2008 at 1:24 PM
Palin was right. This will be too expensive for the taxpayer. Hundreds of billions of dollars for a bailout of another “private” company. I’m sure the Marxists over at HuffPo will demand we allow FM&FM to go bust. As we should.
roninacreage on September 8, 2008 at 1:34 PM
The whole intertwining of the Fed Reserve and all this crap in the government just isn’t healthy long-term and it needs to be cleaned up and reorganized into a modern 21st century capitalist system.
Some of the grass roots Dems who backed Ron Paul get that better than most Republicans who sometimes have too much blind faith in these financial dinosaurs. The quasi-governmental stuff is basically as a way to make a few people fabulously wealthy with little personal risk.
And if the thing fails, the taxpayers all get screwed directly and then indirectly as the economy in general tanks. When the government completely takes over it’s often a green light to just steal billions the old fashioned way.
Gov Palin should be in charge of cleaning up all of this stuff as VP.
econavenger on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
I thought it was a berry since it grows on a vine.
MarkTheGreat on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
If you presuppose that Sarah Palin is an idiot, then everything that she says is either wrong or scripted.
That’s the whole point of what Bill Clinton describes as “the politics of personal destruction.” The introductory flurry of personal attacks has a purpose. First the liberals plant the seeds, then they reap.
logis on September 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Dave Ramsey was talking about this a while back. It’s dangerous to privatize the success of a company while nationalizing the failure. It sets a nasty precedent, where’s the motivation to succeed? I hope this is a one-time thing never to be repeated.
NTWR on September 8, 2008 at 1:40 PM
It is crucial that we ignore anything about Palin that comes out of the MSM. Anything. We don’t need them for anything anymore. They are the enemy. Don’t even engage their “arguments”.
Halley on September 8, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Interesting since I recently purchased a house and my Mortgage broker made SURE not to go through Freddie or Fannie due to the BS they are in right now.
But Sarah is speaking the truth. Alaska isn’t going thru the same problems with houses like the Lower 48 is at this moment in time. Actually Alaska is growing… the housing market has not dropped but it is a buyer market now.
Dean needs to STFU and look at the WHOLE Nation, not just the Lower 48 and the fact that you can have a mortgage there, but also in other countries as well.
upinak on September 8, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Lodis, Just isn’t prepossing anything. Just the fact that they are putting words in Sarah’s mouth is all.
upinak on September 8, 2008 at 1:51 PM
note that the two CEO’s that just got fired from Fannie and Freddie are big libs and Obama supporters. I know atleast one of the new CEO’s, Herb Allison, was in 2000 a McCain supporter and likely the Treasure Dept. is replacing leadership at these outfits with some competence.
Fannie and Freddie have funded in the past, far left groups like ACORN
jp on September 8, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Yeah, she didn’t mess up here. The action over the weekend will cost taxpayers money. And Greenspan himself said that they need to be broken up into smaller institutions early last month – is that a gaffe by economics guru Greenspan too?
ThackerAgency on September 8, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Jim Cramer showed up on Joe Scarborough’s show, today, and he kept screaming about how Fannie and Freddie were HUGE Dem supporters and how those political connections were the reason they are in trouble. I was kind of amazed to hear this coming out of Cramer (though I don’t really know him) and on MSNBC. It was really something. Cramer made sure he mentioned the Dems twice.
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Cramer is a Dem, although I remember him praising Romney once.
there is a political backstory with this, and likely the right thing is being done. hopefully they will break them up into smaller institutions. We are stuck with it, so question is how best to make them work in the economy.
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:02 PM
Hello.
And on the second comment too ; )
The Ugly American on September 8, 2008 at 2:03 PM
Want to talk about gaffes? How about the big one that caused all this? Legislative refusal to make the necessary reforms before all this happened. Some poster on some site, somewhere put it just right” They decided to let the good times roll”. Maybe the faded darling of the left should look into that if she wants to make herself useful.
jeanie on September 8, 2008 at 2:10 PM
Well, if Palin had a ‘gaffe’ so did Obama and McCain. Both talked, pre-Palin, about the cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and taxpayers.
Sue on September 8, 2008 at 2:10 PM
There’s a whole infrastructure built around those GSE guarantees too, so they’re not just on paper. There is (was) OFHEO, there are (were) a bunch of people working at HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research around GSE oversight (and let’s not forget what GSE stands for), and there are (and have been) GSE Enterprise Risk Assessments that have to be performed — leading to the question “risks to whom, and why?”
I’m a housing economist and I know exactly what she meant. The GSEs are creatures of federal legislation, and with the bailout they have gotten expensive.
I’d still have bailed them out, I hasten to add…
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:12 PM
This was no ‘gaffe’, just a desperate attempt to undercut her Economic creds by the media
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:13 PM
HuffingtonPost is taking her out of context.
The CEO makes 38 million. Now we are going to have to bail them out. Her statement was how the more financial troubles they were having the more expensive it would be to the taxpayers as we have to bail them out.
Huffington Post is dense as hell and is taking her ouf of context.
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they’ve gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers,” Palin said to applause. “The McCain/Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”
ryandan on September 8, 2008 at 2:19 PM
I thought he was a Dem, which is why I was shocked that he came down so hard on them. He could have just spoken about “political connections” and most people would have assumed it was a Republican thing, but he was adamant about the Democrat connection. I think even Joe was surprised.
Then the show moved onto something stupid and I had to change the channel.
I wish the Fed would start using their power to regulate margin requirements to do some of the fine-tuning that is necessary every so often.
As to having them work best in the economy, that’s tough to do when the political class tells lending institutions who they must lend money to (lest anyone forget how wildly misvalued loan bundles got started in the first place … the politicians decided to become loan officers, stopping ‘red-lining’ and the general refusal of lenders to loan money to bad credit risks).
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Not even a gaffe. Jeez, this is so infuriating. Obama can’t even get his religion right, says there are 57-59 states, breaks his promise to take federal campaign funds, refuses to do town halls, but Palin says something that is actually true, but phrased in a way that can be slightly misconstrued, and BAM!
Priscilla on September 8, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Obama re Fannie & Freddie: costs the taxpayers too much!
MSM analysis: BRILLIANT PREDICTION! HE’S A FREAKING GENIUS
Palin re Fannie & Freddie: costs the taxpayers too much!
MSM analysis: GAFFE GAFFE GAFFE
kiss my a$$, MSM, no one respects you anymore…heh heh heh!
JustTruth101 on September 8, 2008 at 2:23 PM
HA, where the contortionist hang out. Where is the gloom/doom, outrage, about the Socialist program to bail out Bear Stearns and now Fannie and Freddie. Conflict of interest regarding 401k’s and stock investments?
Chimpy on September 8, 2008 at 2:25 PM
One way of reading her statement is that she’s taking a position against the expected government bailout of these companies because they would be too big and expensive for the government to take on.
Dudley Smith on September 8, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Gaffe meme squashed, here come the trolls. Deflectors to full!
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:31 PM
She said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
Please explain to me how that happened? They’re two privately owned and run organizations that get no money from the government.
She got it totally wrong. Take the lumps.
Next.
Dave Rywall on September 8, 2008 at 2:31 PM
I’m far more concerned by the fact that the video linked at HuffPo clearly shows a Sleestak in the crowd of supporters behind Palin.
Palin is supported by Sleestaks!? Where’s the media on this?
benjamin on September 8, 2008 at 2:32 PM
article on the new CEO’s adn the ousted CEO’s of Fannie and Freddie
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/NEWSMAKER-Veteran-bankers-to-take-reins-at-Fannie–JA5XQ?OpenDocument
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:34 PM
So a Republican “gaff” is when a Republican says something that is accurate?
Kasper Hauser on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
newsflash libtard, a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie is very “expensive to the taxpayers”.
they aren’t pure private orginizations either, they are hybrids between govt. and private sectors
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
Gee. Mae and Mac. Didn’t they crash after a now-forgotten Senator of an unnamed party said that they were bankrupt? I guess there are gaffes, and then there are gaffes.
andycanuck on September 8, 2008 at 2:42 PM
So they’re saying that taxpayers aren’t going to pay for the bailout?
That’s good news!
drjohn on September 8, 2008 at 2:42 PM
Not quite true. Most “privately run organizations” don’t have a whole government Office dedicated to their oversight, with a budget in excess of $60 million; most “privately run organizations” don’t necessitate the preparation of Enterprise Risk Assessments through these dedicated Offices, with the explicit goal of such assessments to reduce “risks to taxpayers.”
Dave, this is another case of you not knowing what the f*** you’re talking about. I briefed a HUD Assistant Secretary on GSE performance not two weeks ago. The room was full of people whose salaries are necessitated by federal oversight of FNMA and FHLMC.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 2:50 PM
newsflash libtard, a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie is very “expensive to the taxpayers”.
they aren’t pure private orginizations either, they are hybrids between govt. and private sectors
jp on September 8, 2008 at 2:36 PM
———-
Yes, fool, obviously the CURRENT bailout is going to cost your grandchildren and their grandchildren much taxes. But hopefully you won’t reproduce.
Palin was claiming the circumstances leading up to the bailout were thus: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.”
This is 100% incorrect.
Dave Rywall on September 8, 2008 at 2:54 PM
~ From CBS News
The press will take her colloquialisms when it serves their Trailer Trash narrative. They split her comments and add the “had” to make it sound past tense? It’s not what she said, and the fact that there are upwards of 300 internet stories spreading this BS just shows they’re grasping at any and everything. Let’s be clear about this:
Get it?
Sultry Beauty on September 8, 2008 at 2:58 PM
No, you’re 100% incorrect. The sizes of the GSEs’ loan portfolios, the weird accounting and capitalization requirements, and the risks to which taxpayers were exposed (which have real costs in the economy) make “too big and too expensive” an accurate description of the situation.
You’re too desperate to see it, but it’s true.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Please. Even the HuffPo used this quote to justify their “point”:
The only gaffe question revolved around the term “funding”, not whether the companies were getting too expensive. Guarantees can be expensive, Einstein, especially when they are based on mispriced assets as in the case with Fannie and Freddie. This alleged gaffe lives in the area between “taking on liabilities for” and “funding of”. The expensive part no one has any doubt about.
As to what these entities really are, go look at their charters instead of just spewing idiocy:
So how many other “private” companies are “government sponsored” by federal charter? How much does government sponsorship cost the taxpayer?
progressoverpeace on September 8, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Got it Sultry..
“they have gotten to big….. not, “had gotten…
In other news.. there’s AllahPundit sticking to the gaffe meme due to his pessimism meter needle being stuck on high.
Mcguyver on September 8, 2008 at 3:09 PM
I invite everyone to review the last few years’ Congressional testimony by the OFHEO leadership and see how much concern there is expressed by Committee members of both parties for the “exposure” of “taxpayers.”
Hmmmmm.
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:10 PM
I found the gaffe.
In the PuffHo piece, it says:
The government is not baling the two entities out, unless the writer unwittingly means to claim that by putting taxpayers on the hook, government has created a great evil. But this would be an unlikely sentiment for a far left hate site like PuffHo.
jeff_from_mpls on September 8, 2008 at 3:15 PM
While I’m at it, was it a gaffe for Frank and Dodd to make a wish list to be paid for by new taxes on the GSEs?
Doesn’t look so smart now, does it?
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:29 PM
And hey, libs, the GSEs are exempt from State and Local Income Taxes — don’t you consider that a cost?
DrSteve on September 8, 2008 at 3:42 PM
HuffPo Desperately Seeking A Palin Gaffe.
Heywood U. Reedmore on September 8, 2008 at 3:55 PM