“the incredible shrinking man”

by twit

Zing.  From Editor & Publisher on October 12, 2008:

Barack Obama picked up at least 16 newspaper endorsements this weekend, including six in swing states Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri. John McCain, as far as we know, gained just two.

The Wisconsin State Journal and The Sun of San Bernardino had backed Bush in 2004. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch called Obama’s opponent, John McCain, “the incredible shrinking man” who had made a horrific pick for his running mate.

Could the economy have something to do with it?

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The return of the ninja bandits

by twit

Via the Associated Press on September 24, 2008:

WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), and insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) also is under investigation.

[…] Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

Over the past year as the housing market cratered, the FBI has opened a wide-ranging probe of companies across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. Mueller has previously said the FBI’s hunt for culprits in the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis focused on accounting fraud, insider trading, and failure to disclose the value of mortgage-related securities and other investments.

This is so much funnier now that we know all about McCain campaign manager Rick Davis’ ties to Freddie Mac.  update: so much funnier…

“John McCain’s campaign manager and Freddie Mac essentially had what amounts to a secret half a million dollar lay-a-way plan. For almost three years and as late as last month, Freddie Mac made secret, monthly payments of $15,000 to Rick Davis’s firm, apparently in exchange for providing special access to a future McCain White House. If McCain knew about this, his presidential campaign should be in serious trouble. If he didn’t know about it, he ought to fire Rick Davis immediately,” said David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch.

but it does sound awful familiar…

Tell me again how John McCain isn’t part of the problem

by lestro

oh, Johnny Mac, you may not be able to lift your arms above your head, but you have proven more than adept at putting your foot in your mouth:

One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by Mr. McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years. Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

oops. Quick! backtrack!

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee composed of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the coming midterm congressional elections.

So, they spent $15,000 a month on a guy who didn’t do anything for them? I think I am beginning to understand this fiscal crisis better.

McCain means no more special interest giveaways

by lestro

Both campaigns are responding to this weekend’s fiscal crisis.

The Obama camp is reminding folks that John McCain has supported the president’s economic policies since they failed the first time around as Reagan’s economic policies and cost the current president’s dear old dad the big job.

(For the record, George H. W. Bush was not a party ideologue and actually tried to fix the economy instead of further pushing the country along the Reaganomic, trickle-down path, which he himself had dubbed “voodoo economics” in his campaign against the Gipper. Since Reagan’s spend spend spend ways had finally caught up, Bush was forced to raise taxes to help balance the budget, a unforgivable no-no among party ideologues.)

Meanwhile, the McCain camp is making sure that everyone knows that now that his friends are taken care of, there will be no more help for anyone:

The McCain-Palin campaign quickly released a new advertisement this morning, titled “Crisis” that focused on the troubled economy, citing foreclosures and job losses. It also repeated the candidate’s pronouncement that there would be no “special interest giveaways,” were the Republicans elected, as the site of Lehman Brothers in downtown Manhattan flashed upon the screen. In the ad, he promised to shore up protections for voters’ savings.

What friends? Why, the top-level Fannie and Freddie lobbyists he has working for him, of course. Now that their business has been saved by the government, screw these other folks.