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Support Of Fannie And Freddie: Bipartisan And Beyond Words
Congressional support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went far beyond words. When the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight — the agency overseeing these government-sponsored enterprises — turned up irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting and in 2004 issued what Barron's magazine called "a blistering 211-page report," Republican Sen. Kit Bond called for an investigation of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, tried to have their budget slashed and sought to have the leadership of the regulatory agency removed. Democratic Congressman Barney Frank likewise declared: "It is clear that a leadership change at OFHEO is overdue."

In short, Fannie Mae's political support in Congress has been bipartisan. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's employees and political action committees donated nearly $5 million to current members of Congress since 1989," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sen. Bond received $95,000 and Sen. Christopher Dodd received $165,000. According to the Wall Street Journal:

The two companies employ armies of lobbyists and consultants and are major campaign donors. "There has been no more powerful organization in Washington than Fannie Mae," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. "They have been able to manipulate the regulatory and legislative process for years."...

...Blessed with the advantages of a government agency and a private company at the same time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used their windfall profits to co-opt the politicians who were supposed to control them. The companies fought successfully against increased regulation by cultivating their friends and hounding their enemies. ... The agencies that regulated the companies were outmatched: They lacked the money, the staff, the sophistication and the political support to serve as an effective check.

This pattern went back for years. The Washington Post recalled a 1992 attempt by Congressman Jim Leach to get stronger regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and the opposition by Congressman Frank to prevent it...

...Corruption of the political process can take many forms. Sen. Dodd, for example, received mortgages from Countrywide Financial Corp. on unusually favorable terms, saving him an estimated $75,000. Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah not only received more campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other Republican in Congress over the years, his son was employed by Fannie Mae. In addition, The Economist magazine reported: "Ex-politicians were given jobs" by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

One of the other perquisites of power has long been simply the ability to throw one's weight around. Although the Massachusetts-based bank called OneUnited was ineligible to receive money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) under its general guidelines, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank intervened and suddenly it became eligible to receive $12 million of the taxpayers money.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Frank, by his own account, wrote into the TARP bill a provision specifically aimed at helping this particular home state bank. And later, he acknowledges, he spoke to regulators urging that OneUnited be considered for a cash injection."

At a meeting with U.S. Treasury Department officials were not only representatives of Congressman Frank but also representatives of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and of Congresswoman Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, whose husband had served on the board of directors of the OneUnited Bank and has had at least a quarter of a million dollars worth of stock in the bank....