A Confusing Comment on Fannie & Freddie From Gov. Sarah Palin

I will buy and vote for it. It got too expensive for the taxpayers to not take action.
What did Obama mean by his “muslim faith”?

This is what happens when your majority of “executive experience” is 6 years as mayor of a town you left $20M in debt.
This is where Plain hurts herself not doing interviews. A simple follow up question could have cleared it up in terms of what she meant.

Thank you for actually doing some real reporting on the new VP McCain pick. Goes to show how much she does not know about economic issues. Pretty scary. I don’t believe the McCain spin.

“Though they’re private entities ultimately backed up by the taxpayers”
That can’t be too hard to underatand is it? The taxpayers wind up getting shafted. Why is it Washington insiders have so much trouble understanding plain English. Jakes needs Biden to go on a 20 minute rant to explain what too expensive for the taypayers means.

“Palins first major Gaffe”
Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend.
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.”
Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding about one of the key economic issues likely to face the next administration.

This is just the beginning. The woman has no clue — and we are getting ready to find out the extent of that.

“Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.”
Liberal group. no wonder.
We get it Jake, You think Palin is an airhead.

its a shame the problem got this out of control. because any TRUE fiscal conservative would 10 times out of ten, say that fannie and freddie should be left alone to FAIL. and i completely agree. but if this is done in this situation, it could be catastrophic to the mortgage industry on top of its already bad situation. so, that being said, i dont blame any RESPONSIBLE politician saying that the government needs to bail these two out. BUT WE SHOULD LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES!!! why did it have to be this way? who is to blame for the problem getting to the point of “government salvation”? as a fiscal conservative, it absolutely sickens me that “we the people” have to bail these private entities out. but we have no choice. it has to be done. now we just have to find out how, who, and whhy this happened and elect people who WONT LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN.

What do you expect from someone that doesn’t know what a VP does?

yeah What a slam job. Face it DEMS GONNA LOSE. what a CHOKE! Would not be surprised to see Obama kick Biden and try to get Hillary back. What an idiot abandoning 18 million supporters. McCain Palin will win, then she will be first US WOMAN PRESIDENT with a Palin / JINDAL ticket.

To summarize Obama
“We can’t have, yada,yada,yada, taxpayers, blah,blah,blah, bail them out.”
You buy that either?

Sara Palin is a brilliant politician, and she will prove that in her debate with Old Man Biden.
In your dreams Jay Bird. McCain had his chance to pick a real conservative but went with bird brain. She won’t last, McCain is straining his resources holding her up. I worked for McCain in 2000, now he’s just a POS sellout.

I guess she decided to ad lib from the prepared remarks on the teleprompter.

I thought she was smart and well informed after her speech. I’ve seen her stumping and she says the same thing over and over, then, when she tries to form an opinon that isn’t givin to her by handlers she has no clue what she’s talking about. This is the worst decision in VP history! Mclame is just going for “celebrity” staus with this one maybe Palin and Brittney’s mom should go have coffie and try to figure the economy and child raising out!

Gas is too expensive now. But a lot of people still drive to work instead of bicycling.

Stupid questions like this from liberal media pundits is what is fueling the poll numbers in John McCain favor. The more she is attacked, the more sympathy Gov Palin gets. Keep em coming Jake.

Tom….at 3:10…I like that Palin/Jindal ticket in 2012! Unless Hillary is in the race and shakes it up good next time.

Titling this “A Confusing Comment on Fannie & Freddie from Gov. Sarah Palin” is leaning way over to be kind to her. It should be “A Confused (or Mistaken) Comment on Fannie & Freddie from Gov. Sarah Palin”

“My Muslim faith”…….Barack Obama 09/07/08
If Obama can slip over his tongue, anyone can.
Obama/Biden ’08

I really would like to Jake to explain why he is so confused by the statement “too expensive for taxpayers”. Even Obama admits the taxpayers would wind up footing the bill. I see plain talk-stupid
fancy talk -smart.

Lemme see now, right off the top of my head: Brilliant Mayor Palin left little Wasilla 20 million in debt-lawsuits are pending because of that great sports complex she had built and didn’t have the brains to have right away taken care of before it was built-Little matter of billing the state of Alaska for trips she made to her church in Wasilla-ethics probes-her bridge to nowhere lies-…the list goes on and on.

I don’t know what poll you’re looking at (FAUX NEWS I suspect) but a poll today had it 48-48 with 4 percent undecided. Doesn’t sound like toast to me. Especially with Sarah Palin’s incompetence coming to light more and more with each passing day. Where will the GOP hide this embarrasment for the next two months?

Keep on talking Palin….show us ignorant you really are.Cheney likes her…how scary is that.Palin/Cheney/Bush.

Gosh now it is the Liberal Elite Media and Obama’s Fault
I am sick of this sexism, you are putting too much pressure on her.
LOL

Ummm, aren’t we really talking about the briefing that the candidates got from SecTreas yesterday? Biden demurred when asked on MTP- saying he’d rather wait for the announcement. I guess Palin couldn’t hold her tongue. Either that or they have not gotten to the Econ 101 for VPs briefing w/Phil Gramm yet.
The first of many gaffes I’m sure. Heaven help us!

Obama
“We can’t have a situation in which, during boom times, management and investors are soaking up huge profits, taking extraordinary risks, and thinking to themselves that if they get into trouble because of these risky investments that somehow the taxpayers
are going to be there to bail them out.”
So Obama is against the bailout right? It cost taxpayers nothing if we don’t bail them out right?

“WHAT MAKES BARACK OBAMA MORE CREDIBLE ON THE ECONOMY THAN SARAH PALIN”
1st thing is he knows the difference between private and public entities.

Why no headline that McCain wants a bipartisan cabinet….best, brightest, DEMS and Reps….salaries of $1. If this was Bozo’s idea it would make headlines….the “Unifier”. Ask Lieberman and Biden….McCain is the McMan!

In effect FMAC & FMAY are government programs. They are backed fully by the government in case of a catastrophic failure which is already happening.

Tim – Probably because you are insulting. Obama is running against McCain and the Palin addition was a cow to the far right on McCain’s part. Palin has had some “economy” practice with her local hockey rink she can take up with Joe Biden…
The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.
The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin’s legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

Careful Jake, McCain may be forced into canceling that interview with ABC

Its too late to try to insult Mccain/Palin
you people spent months ridiculing Clinton who was the right candidate at the right time and now you will have to pay litterally and figuratively for what youve done!

Wasilla is building a new sports stadium which accounts for the debt. That’s how communities grow.
The sport stadium is already built. I’ve seen it and it’s tied up in legal claims that MS Palin didn’t have to brains to take care of.

The REAL fact is FNMA and FRMC are private entities that are government-sponsored enterprises – GSEs.
Sarah Palin incorrectly identified them in her comments – very alarming.

Why are you all so jealous of FOX news….could it be their #1 STANDING IN THE RATINGS FOR YEARS? CNN #2, and the ridiculous MSNBC #3. Please, don’t be frightened that majority of Americans are right of center and watch FAIR AND BALANCED FOX NEWS. Your cable news channels could get a bump in the ratings if they’d throw away their liberal leanings….we’re SICK of it…look at poor Matthews and Olberman…boo hoo.

The media performs a very important function in our society–there would be no democracy without it. An example would be today’s Russia with only state run news–an authoritarian government run by Vladimir Putin.
Palin knew her life would be scrutinized down to the very personal details including her family. If that is a problem, then she should back out. Seems that John McCain may have dropped the ball on her vetting process. Everyone should be concerned about the allegations of abuse of power, firing or attempting to fire librarians, supervisors, troopers, etc.
Unless one is a millionaire, when you vote Republican, you vote against your own best economic iterests. We are in economic failure due to the policies of a Republican administration. Also, even if McCain were to be elected, he would still face a Democratic congress who control the purse strings. Gridlock will prevail.

“Wasilla is building a new sports stadium which accounts for the debt. That’s how communities grow.”
Let’s talk about the stadium.
How Palin messed up her original purchase from the Nature Conservatory, how the land was bought by someone else, how the the city sued and lost their case against that landowner, then how the city grabbed the property via emminent domain.
It does make me paugh that you guys recoil in horror at taxes going up on people making $250K or greater but are just fine with a $20M debt in a town of less than 10000. That’s over $2000 for every single person in town regardless of age.

Marcus – that’s my point. Those people have no better choices than driving to work, even though gas is too expensive.

This whole housing crises is a joke caused by too many people buying houses they can not afford and not reading the small print. And yes, it will cost taxpayers billions to bail out and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She made a correct statement.
ABC needs to stop distorting the Republicans statements, policies and agenda. Trapper could be the next Chris Matthews.

Sarah McSame is glad to answer any and all questions from anyone! Just apply the following, in any order, mix and match for fun!
Answer 1. Obama bad.
Answer 2. What ever McCain says.

paige…
ok, first i will reply to you because you replied to me first. ok, where do i start. first off, i asked why you think BARACK OBAMA WILL DO A BETTER JOB ON THE ECONOMY. i didnt ask why you didnt like sarah palin. you gave me no reason why YOU think he will do better. plus, you focussed just on her job as mayor of wasilla. she has been GOVENOR for 2 years. so ill just leave it at that for right now.

Hopefully just the first of the media reporting the gaffes/lies by Gov. Palen. Katrina, four dollar gas, a trillion dollar war, rising unemployment, deregulated housing market, global warming, and now fake change… Americans should have had enough of Republicans.

Maybe Palin can renegotiate the nuclear deal with Russia that Bush just cancelled today. Being her foreign policy experience consists of being so close to Russia..Have her paddle over there and she if she can get the deal going again.Apparently her experience is good enough to the reps so lets give her a chance to prove herself.

How is it confusing? It’s pretty clear she is painfully ignorant about Freddie and Fannie’s role in the mortgage crisis.
It’s pretty clear she’s painfully ignorant about a lot of things.
Oh well. It’ll all get sorted out when The Rapture happens.

I am hearing reports that Obama absolutely got owned in the O’Reilly interview.
Tune in tonight to watch Obama squirm.
TOTAL SELF-DESTRUCT!
O’Reilley and Obama
Monday
September 8
8:00 PM Eastern
FOX
McCain-Palin ’08
Hillary ’12

Obama is a good part of the housing crisis. He and others in Congress looked the other way and received sweetheart loans in return.
The democrats in power chair all the oversight committees. Where were they?
This congress is corrupt. CORRUPT!

akadad…
ok, im not going to dispute those numbers directly because i dont have the facts with me, im not sure if they are accurate or not, but secondly, you think barack obama is the typical democrat that has been involved in those numbers?! the TRUE democrats of the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s?! this guy has a TOTAL different mindset from a true democrat.

Oh well. It’ll all get sorted out when The Rapture happens.
Patricia in SF
——————————–
Believe me, it won’t be late before it does.

Palin uses tax payers money to buld a sports stadium for all its residents and those in the Mat-Su Valley. Obama uses tax payer money to support Trinty Church and help build a mansion for the Rev. Wright. On this one, Palin wins again.

she doesn’t know what she is talking about
this is the 30 second soundbite with no comprehension at work
and it is just the beginning…
this woman has NO record of understanding a single issue facing us…
and, no, building a pipeline in an oil and gas economy dependent state and calling for more drilling is not “energy expertise” ugh…and/or a plan to get us off energy dependence and address the risk of global warming that will destroy our kids if the naysayers who go against science are wrong.
and this woman…goes against science.
the worst choice in our history as a nation… all for political games…

Paige at 3:31, you’re right…sort of like when BO took on Biden, who thinks he’s not ready to be Prez. and his good buddy John McCain is better for the job. That was a great decision by BO…NOT.

Martin
imagine the Obamabots still trying to pressure people at this late date! THe Obama/Biden ticket was never going to win but if Obama picked Hillary he at least had a chance you people are all patently absurd!

tim
Obama’s plan includes fixing our infrastructure. That always creates job. Investing in alternative energy will create jobs. His middle class tax cuts will create jobs.
It’s what Democrats do. Just compare the economy under Clinton compared to Bush.

Tim- you are starting to scare me a bit. What happened to McCain? Isn’t he at the top of your ticket? I threw the hockey rink story in for good measure. The only thing Palin does for McCain is prove he is NOT a Maverick. He couldn’t even stand up to the far right wing of his party and choose the VP he really wanted.

dl…
stealing from the rich to give to the poor is not wat america is about. thats one of the basic ideas of marxism. im not even going to defend it other than that because yu and i CLEARLY have a different idea on the fundamentals of what american government should do with taxes. i believe its more of a SPENDING problem, while you and barack believe its a TAXING issue. and he wants to punish the peolpe with the money to fight for the “litle guy”. you dont think that would be partially due to getting votes do you?! the same thing with all the other government handouts? welfare? college education? socialized healthcare? it all sounds good, but THEY WANT TO CREATE DEPENDENCY ON THE GOVERNMENT. and unfortunately, there are more and more uninformed, lazy americans who are fighting for this. very sad.

Obama hasn’t asked for any earmarks this year. Last year, he asked for $311 million worth, about $25 for every Illinois resident. Alaska asked this year for earmarks totaling $198 million, about $295 for every Alaska citizen.

Millions of Jobs Added
Truman 1949 -1952 5.2
Eisenhower 1953 – 1956 2.7
Eisenhower 1957 – 1960 0.8
Kennedy/Johnson 1961 – 1964 5.7
Johnson 1965 – 1968 9.8
Nixon 1969 – 1972 6.1
Nixon/Ford 1972 – 1976 5.2
Carter 1977 – 1980 10.4
Reagan 1981 – 1984 5.2
Reagan 1985 – 1988 10.8
Bush 1989 – 1992 2.5
Clinton 1993 – 1996 11.6
Clinton 1997 – 2000 11.5
Bush 2001 – 2004 (0.1)
Bush 2005 – 2008 5.1
Even Jimmy Carter’s one term created more jobs than Bush’s two terms.

“If she was referring to the bailout, I guess the banks and airlines are also “Too expensive to the taxpayers”"
Palin will make them smaller, smarter and more efficient!

dl
whether you like it or night Obama/biden will not win now the Clinton people are serious that we would rather wait till 2012 andwe will and you will live with it!

Martin at 3:37….great post…let’s count up the hundreds of thousands the Obama’s gave to Trinity church and the building of Wright’s 10 mill home.

BKMC
Mcsame is the dumbest phrase you all have come up with I know you ultra elitiest professor types think its hilarrious but its not going to win you the election!

tim
for the past 40 years the burden of tax debt on the middle class has grown at twice the rate as the top 5%
so what about stealing from the poor to pay for the rich to keep more of their money?
Obama is just adjusting the slow little trickery that a majority of republican administrations have snuck through while America wasn’t paying attention…
guess what since the engine of our country runs on the back of those middle class’s retail…
yeah that is the American way…to make sure the market stays strong…

yeppers McCain/Palin 08
Clinton2012

Joe at 3:39..when did campaigning with 300 advisors for 18 months become cred for Presidential nominee…..what the?
Before that, community organizer removing asbestos. Send him back to Senate to put in more than 143 days.

It’s a gaffe but not one that will hurt her or McCain. Simply put, tell any 10 people on the street what she said and 9 out of 10 will agree that statement.
One could also take the tact that because there has always been an implicit federal liability that there has always been an associated cost that is reflected in the value of the dollar and t-bill auctions.
I’m going with gaffe myself.

I DON’T BUY IT! It’s a dumb explaination to cover her incompentency!
Stayed tuned America there will be more to come in the way Palinisms!
I can’t believe people are fawning all over her just after one scripted speech!
Too me she is just another Bush…with Lipstick!
Eight years is ENOUGH!
Smart Women for OBAMA ’08

Palin is Bush in heels
Cheney with lipstick

dl…
do yourself a favor, and tell me the percentage of taxes the top 10 percent of americans pay. please do that for me. listen, im not saying there isnt problems. and im not a republican. i think here are ALOT of problems from both sides of the aisle. but this is a SPENDING problem, not a taxing problem. we spend way, way, way too much money, and bottom line is, with an obama presidency, there will be even more spending. this isnt speculation, this is from the man himself. our economies biggest problem is spending, not taxing.

What is Palin hiding? She won’t answer any questions. Why won’t she show over 1100 pages of emails claiming executive privlidge? Why is she not forthcoming in the indepedent investigation of an improper firing? How is she qualified to help in these economic times when she doesn’t understand what Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae do? Why won’t she come before the public and interview for the job? McCain has made a decision based on politics and not on what is best for our country.
I don’t think his choice puts the Country First in the least.

The Community Reinvestment Act is the seed that started this whole subprime mess. It needs to be repealed.

She has NO CLUE as to what she is talking about on this subject like many othewr she knows NOTHING about…..Enough said>>>>>

I don’t buy it. Sounds like back tracking to me. Why didn’t Sarah Palin explain what she meant? Why did the McCain campaign have to clarify her statements?

Ohenry
Keep making things up if it makes you feel better. However, I hear that taking in too much BS is bad for your health.

Debra says “you’re right…sort of like when BO took on Biden, who thinks he’s not ready to be Prez. and his good buddy John McCain is better for the job. That was a great decision by BO…NOT.
_______________________________________________
Why did Palin support Ron Paul and speak out against McCain?

paige…
i meant no harm by it, chill out.. lol i was just simply waiting for someone to say exactly what you said. all the democrats and the liberal media are blasting away on palin right now, so while we are talking about her (because thats what everyone on here was talking about, i was just defending) i knew i would get someone who would say “shes not even on the top of the repub’s ticket”… lol but its funny how the republican v.p. choice and the democratic presidential choice are being compared so much isnt it??!!

Woody
That’s not correct. Deregulating the financial industry is what created the sub-prime mess. The Gramm-Leach-Blailey act is the culprit.

Mark- BUT she got them all those earmarks! Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.
There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project — all intended to benefit Palin’s town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage.

Country First at 3:43 GREAT LINK!!!!
A MUST READ!

Tim- I agree with you 100%. :)

dl…
ok, let me get this straight… im supposed to vote for obama because thats the only way we will be able to get this do nothing, democratic controlled congress to do something?! is that what your saying? and im not saying mcain is the guy. i never have. im just saying, i agree with him alot more than karl marx.

Expect more unfathomable comments such as this one as she makes uninformed off-the-cuff remarks, as opposed to speeches that have been written for her. She’s in way over her head!

wow…. all you democrats in here talking about her “inexperience”, and “do we want her a heartbeat away from the presidency”?… DO YOU GUYS FORGET WHO YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE IS???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my god…

Palin is wholly unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Even Rove and other conservatives said as much before McCain picked her.
The establishment has been living high off the hog for so long, they will promote anyone in order to keep it going.

I think Palin has no clue about national and foreign issues and is a danger to our country.
Of course, the majority of Americans who are unenthusiastic, undereducated and under informed won’t realize this until 2 years into their administration.
All you have to do it repeat a lie enough times to make America believe it. “Executive experience” “Executive experience” “Executive experience” “Executive experience” “Executive experience” “Executive experience”

I may read too much into her opinion, but I think she’s on to something. Fannie & Freddie were needed to rebuild confidence in mortgage financing coming out of the Great Depression, but they should have been set up to go out of existence once confidence was rebuilt and let the free market deal with the risks. Now that confidence is almost goned, we need them again; but, I hope McCain/Palin will help to set it up so that eventually the taxpayers will no longer be the banker of last resort. It does not make sense to allow companies be privately owned when they’re profitable and then make them government-owned when they lose money. As some economist put it recently, that kind of set up is WORSE than communism.

this woman went to 6 different schools in 6 years to graduate from the univ of idaho. i mean is this really what we need? an undergrad in finance could understand fanny and freddie. what about other issues i mean she is stupid!!

dl – simplified why don’t we vote the donothing congress out!! Then give McCain a congress that will get us back on track.
Please note alot of the mortgage issue and bank issues are due to The libs in Congress – Dodds with banking deals, Schmer cause a scare
Fannie mae and freddie mac are costing us too much money, I am sure she meant from the take over which is going to cost us over 100 billion dollars!

Well, her statement wasn’t great, but I wish this much scrutiny would be applied to Obama…why no post about the surge all of a sudden working beyond everyone’s “wildest dreams,” or that he will leave the Bush tax cuts if there is a looming recession in Jan, or, or, or…
On that last one, doesn’t that make anyone fearful that he might just tax more than the top 5% if the economy “requires” it at the time. Shifting priorities and the like…

USVET
If you think it is because of THIS “do nothing congress” that this bail out had to happen…you are seriously out of touch…
Palin should talk to mccain’s senior “ex” economic adviser Gramm then(that is still officially unofficially working as his sr economic adviser)
you know the guy who wrote McCain’s economic platform
the guy who also PUSHED THROUGH THE DEREGULATION THROUGH THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS OF BOTH THE HOUSING INDUSTRY AND THE OIL INDUSTRY… hell ENRON.
the do nothing congress was given the banking and housing issue from a REPUBLICAN congress.
and the men who built that situation are mccain’s entire leadership team.
you people have got to be kidding me…ugh.

tim — Thanks!

Hey Lois from California quit whining about the fact that you have to pay $4 per gallon gas while Palin gave Alaskans a rebate because of their surplus from oil revenues.
If you want a rebate then tell Nancy, Arnold, Boxer, Feinstien and the rest of your liberal representatives to allow California to drill offshore like they do in Alaska.
Stop trying to feed off the profits of other States while you keep your environment pristine.

The Republicans are so desparate for a savior that they have latched on to this loose cannon of a woman as the second coming. Sad and pathetic… You won’t see her in too many interviews because the McCain campaign is worried she will screw up and embarass them. And to think, this woman could be president some day soon! After all, John McCain is 72 years old and a cancer survivor. God help us all…

Where’s the thread about Obama’s accidental admission of his Muslim faith? Why would an interviewer have to ‘correct’ an interviewee’s statement? It should be called a coaching session instead of interviewing session if the interviewer knows more about what the interviewee should say.

come on people, lets all be fair now. do you ACTUALLY think a person that has been nominated for vice president, no matter what the party, dosent know that fannie mae and freddie mac are private institutions?! seriously?! i know it makes for good mudslinging, but cmon now. why do americans have to attack EVERY possible thing as ridiculous as it may be?

Obama supporters are not going to let there be a 9th year of hide and seek governemtn tricks
same team same tactics
add this to the list
wmd
enron
katrina failures and hirings
judicial appointments
Libby
energy meetings behind closed doors
etc etc
and
the choosing of Palin …an overhwelmingly underqualified , ill-equipped trojan horse to women…
who sells jets on ebay and leaves her town in debt after getting 20 million dollars in earmarks from hiring lobbyists
who tells the american people she sadi no to a bridge but keeps the money
and who doesn’t believe in science as fact but HER faith is
and seems to have drama and ethics questions around every position she has ever held.
oh and hasn’t “really paid attention” to the war iniraq…
or anything for that matter overseas.
ugh

What an embarrassment to the once great Republican party. We used to be the smart guys on the economy – now my party is taken over by religious nuts.

McCain ain’t going anywhere…so quit with the “heartbeat away crap”. His mom is the sharpest 96 year old out there. McCain should have been dead 3 times, but was spared for a higher purpose…serving this country in the highest office…and I believe that, so don’t challenge my faith.

Ha ,Ha ,Ha ,Ha ,Ha
I’m expecting Sarah to next say how difficult it is to put “food on your family”.
Yep she’s Bush in a dress.

Jake — that FNM and FRE are private entities (i.e., publicly traded companies) does not free them from government influence. In fact, Fannie and Freddie are organizations that have been sleeping with politicians for decades. How do you think Fannie and Freddie were able to capitalize on and help fuel the housing bubble. FNM and FRE are government extensions.

Of course I don’t buy that explanation, anymore than I buy Palin’s comment about not supporting the Bridge to Nowhere or earmarks in general, or her extensive commander-in-chief experience acquired while deploying the Alaskan National Guard to fight forest fires,or her vast administrative experience which allowed her to build a hockey rink on land to which her township did not have the title. This is one of Palin’s first unscripted moments in the spotlight of this campaign and she illustrated brilliantly that she has no idea how the mortgage lending industry works and has no idea how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are structured.

McCain/Palin beliefs and why they are to be feared:
Global warming does NOT exist.
Environmental protection is unnecessary and should be stopped.
All resources are provided by God to be exploited fully without regard to environmental damage.
The US is the world’s attack dog and is free to invade any country it wants.
The war in Iraq is a “holy war” against the Muslims.
The war in the middle east should be expanded to include Iran.
Evolution does NOT exist.
Creationism should be taught in public schools.
There should not be a seperation between church and state.
Abortion should be banned including after rape or incest.
Homosexuality is a sin against God and should be banned.
Supreme Court Judges should be picked according to agreeing with the items above.

Well all this is beginning to show that Palin is not fit to be in the White House. She knows very little past her state of Alaska and has already said she doesn’t really care about Iraq, Iran and foreing countrys. WOW good luck Sarah when you meet Biden.

tim I agree that what person would be nominated for VP that doesn’t get the basic notion that these are private institutions?
but we don’t know…and this is the first thing out of her mouth…
it’s not jumping on… it’s she may not know…
there is no record of anything we are facing on a national platform that she has shown any record of knowledge or judgement on…
she and Mccain have yet to have checks next to their names for understanding economics…
at all
the only reason her state got tax breaks…was because they are an oil economic dependent state and living off earmarks from the fed… …and the oil industry is seeing record profits.
period.

If this is indicative of Palin’s knowlege on issues, the McCain campaign would do well to never let her speak without a script and teleprompter! Biden will tear her up in the debate.

We’re doomed. McCain chose campaign over country… and (if he wins) has saddled us with a dangerously under-qualified VP. She’s being SCHOOLED RIGHT NOW in foreign policy and the economy. Holy cow! I want a VP that already knows this stuff!

just wait more are coming. i love it the way they either 1) dont answer the question or 2) turn around and say well Barack Obama did it too.
can someone please answer a straight question.

The bailout is costing taxpayers money. it’s very simple to understand. Looks like ABC is the mouth piece for Obama. ABC should be ashamed. The news media should report the news, not put a “Obama” slant on the news.
PUMA was right !!!
Palin Power to you…

Sen. Clinton voted for the Bridge to Nowhere, I know that.

Paige
You’re full of it. You’re up to your hips in it.
Obama authored precisely two bills during his tenure in Congress. One was to send a token amount of money to Africa and another was to name a post office.
Boy, you kids say the darnest things.

Isn’t it true that Obama voted for the bridge to nowhere?
====
I have no idea.. it’s Palin who is getting high marks for saying she voted against it… when in fact she was for it.
It’s Palin who’s being sold as an accomplished VP who can step in on day one. McCain said that her close proximity to Russia qualifies her.
Do you agree with that? Does Alaska’s closeness to Russia qualify one in foreign affairs?

Buffee, you forgot to add: Palin prays for Russia and Iran to be more Christian-like and stop their agression.

newvoter
yeah, right.

She does not understand anything about the federal government except how to accept money from it for her state. But of course we are picking on her because she is a woman, right?

first off, im not going to get into it that deep other than to ask, if palin and mccain have no experience, then what does that say for obama and biden?! mccain and biden have both been in washington a long time. they just have different beliefs. and obama and palin are both newcommers for the most part. so what makes you think that mccain and palin have no experience, but obama and biden have what it takes?! it goes back to my original question… what makes obama the guy for the job?! all i ever get is bashing of the other side?

Someone asked.. why Obama keeps his wife’s mouth shut. Well, duh..is she running for office?
Better question is why is McCain afraid to let Palin speak to the press? I think now we all know why – so we cannot see how dumb she is.
Bye the way.. why don’t the press investigate why Palin is married to a man who is a member of a party that wants to secede from the US and why she spoke at that party’s convention this year? Seems to me this is a heck of a lot worse that Michelle Obama saying that she is really proud of her country for the first time. At least Michelle could talk about slavery and civil rights. What’s Palin’s excuse?
teh Republican ticket is Dumb and Dumber.

I think Palin skipped the classes all year and is now cramming for the final exam – trying to sound like she knows what she’s talking about.

of course it she mis spoke as opposed to not knowing? LOL
Time will tell. It is actually an insult to the american people that the republicans think we will vote for a person we dont know but again we knew bush /cheney and still voted.
wake up folks!!!!!!!!!!

Watching John Stewart comforts me that there are still journalists willing to confront idiocy.
He plays the video clip of McCain’s adviser Karl Rove sharing his opinion that Obama would pick Kaine as a political move instead of the best choice for the office. Then he goes on to demeaning Kaine’s experience from a low population state.
He then plays Rove the moron pontificating on the wisdom of selecting the Tonya Harding VP choice of McCain.

If you think Charlie “softball” Gibson will ask Palin any hard questions I have some swampland in FL I’ll sell to you cheap. He’ll probably ask where she got her glasses.
I wish he’d ask about her association with The Third Wave… but it’s not gonna happen.

I love how anytime McCain or Princess Palin are critized it’s just “reapeating the DNC talking points”.
This is just the begining of The Gov. showing her total lack of knowledge on the issues.

The polls show that the voter is gaining intelligence, Obama will never catch up to McCain/Palin. Obama talks about change and for 11 years he practiced dirty politics and unsavory associations with criminals, muslims and racists. Obama’s record is his downfall. Obama can’t be trusted and he has no experience in leadership!
McCain/Palin

Gaffe: “A socially awkward or tactless act.”
This isn’t a gaffe. This is like McCain misstating where borders of countries are or who the Iranians are helping (ummm… Al Queda or Iraqi insurgents? There is a big difference.)
These are ERRORSbased on complete lack of knowledge. These people do not know the facts. Aren’t these things the President and Vice President should know? C’mon folks — don’t we want them to be smarter than us???

Tim says: m just waiting for someone to give me an honest answer, other than “i want change”, as to why they think barack obama should be our nevt president? all i ever get is republican bashing and the doom and gloom they brought the last eight years. no real answers on why they think barack obama is qualified to be our next leader.
__________________________________________________
What did you hear from the RNC? Nothing about our economy, global warming, Afghanistan – only shots against Obama. There are a host of issues that make Obama the choice for now, but what surprises me is how so many people completely fail to grasp that we MUST rebuild our global relationships. Those relationships and our ability to lead and be involved directly impacts every aspect of our economy at home. We are way deep in debt to the US bank of China, borrowing money from a communist country to pay for antiquated energy policies that we get from countries w/ties to terrorism. It’s complicated, but McCain brings us the exact same policies that brought us to this point in the first place. Mccain says he is against earmarks, yet puts one of the biggest abusers on his ticket – McCain says he understand climate change, yet puts a person who does not believe it is man-made on his ticket and on and on….. Obama will close tax loopholes for those companies sending jobs overseas; lower taxes on anyone making under $250,000 – a rising tide lifts all boats, ACTUALLY invest in alternative energy sources – not just give lip service to them….

This is much ado about nothing. The US government has never had the option of letting Fannie and Freddie fail–it would cause a national and international credit crisis. As the portfolios of these giants expanded, it became increasingly clear that they were too big and represent an unacceptable risk to tax payers. You can parse Palin’s phrasing on this, but the risk has been unacceptably real and large for some time.
The bigger point is this–the media and the left are so inpatient for Palin to trip, that it looks like they are aggressively trying to trip her. Guess who will benefit from that?

No I don’t buy the “explanation” or really double talk and distraction, which is the McCain campaign’s version of an explanation.
Clearly, Ms. Palin doesn’t know what she’s talking about on this and alot of other issues.
And on that note, I hope ABC is not giving her the questions in advance of her interview so she can “cram” for it, and I hope Charlie Gibson doesn’t throw her softballs. In fact, if he doesn’t go after her the way he and Stephanopoulos went after Obama during the debates, I am going to be suspicious.

Fannie mae and freddie mac are costing us too much money, I am sure she meant from the take over which is going to cost us over 100 billion dollars!
and whose job was to oversee them. Congress. Especially the Senate. Biden, Dodd, Obama, Reid, et al.

Hey Paige where did you get your calander? Obama was elected to the senate in 2006 and took office in 2007thats 21 months. and most of those months (19) have been spent campaigning

She didn’t answer any questions
or pass any test.
She made a statement probably
with a script in front of her.
She had an opportunity to
educate the public with greater
clarity on this federal takeover.
But she didn’t use it.
She just showed she’s the one
who needs more education on the
matter.

the voters need competence, not a sideshow. We will have a thousand examples of things that Sarah Palin does *not* know, beofre this is over. How many do we need?
None.

Palin is simply a placeholder to look pretty next McCain. North Vietnam would have done U.S. democracy a favor had they shipped McCain to the Soviet Gulag for PERMANENT residence.
McCain is an insult to the U.S. constitution.

Tim – ow…. all you democrats in here talking about her “inexperience”, and “do we want her a heartbeat away from the presidency”?… DO YOU GUYS FORGET WHO YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE IS???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my god…
________________________________________________
You want to switch to McCain now? You baited for Palin/Obama all afternoon and I give his accomplishments in a nutshell and you pull McCains name out. Nice work, but no go. I’m the one that stated Obama is running against McCain and you kept pushing Palin. Make up your mind.

HOW DARE YOU ATTACK SARAH PALIN! She sponsored a MINIMUM of 20 bake sales while she was in the PTA, and she knows a thing or two about economics, thank you very much!

geevil it was the republican congress that all the bad stuff happened with.
just like the war the dems might not have been great at cleaning it up yet… but when the hot soup is being poured all over the floor….it may take a while of someone else trying to stop it and then the clean up…
the republican congress is to blame for this bologne in the first place…
and who was the champion of deregulation of the banking sector and the guy who wrote the enron loophole for the energy speculators…
Mr “author of mccain’s economic platform…literally” Gramm.

To Jake Tapper
Once again Palin is being taken out of context and smeared.
For years it has been known we would have to bail out freddie and fannie.
It wasn’t going to get less expensive the more trouble they were in.
Their structure was too expensive. The CEO pay was outrageous.
It was going to get more expensive the longer we waited to bail them out.
That is what Palin was saying. The longer we waited the more expensive it was going to get to bail them out and it had gotten to expensive.
Stop taking her out of context.

Palin is as stupid as Dan Quale

Face it, Palin didn’t have the slightest idea what she was saying and neither did whoever wrote her “off the cuff” remark.
No one expects the candidates to be policy experts on every single topic, but in the year of the housing crisis, Freddie and Fannie are KIND OF A BIG DEAL. Should should at the minimun know that they are GSEs and not government agencies.

“Confusing comment”?
No, call a spade a spade. She goofed. She messed up. She made a mistake. She got her facts wrong.
Why pussyfoot around the truth?

paige…
my only question all day has been why do obama supporters support him? thats the only question ive been going on all afternoon, im not sure where you are going with this… just because i point out a remark made by someone else proving my exact point?!

Wow, this is a lame story. Fannie and Freddie got into this mess when Andrew Cuomo, as head of HUD under Clinton, required that they increase their buying of subprime loans to “serve underserved markets”. Sorry Dems, today’s bailout is what happens when the government decides to force the market to issue bad loans in the interest of pushing home ownership down to people who can’t afford it. But, of course, Democrats WANT a command and control economy – you reap what you sow.

Palin’s first gaffe. EVERYBODY politician does that.
I am sure it won’t be her last.

brandon…
NOOOO!!! dont come in here and represent the actual FACTS of wht lead to this mortgage crisis!!! the left dosent want to hear that, they just assume it was part of george bush’s “eight years of doom”!!!!!

Now people will begin to wake up and realize this woman knows NOTHING!!!! Her speech was written (probably by Karl Rove) for her and yes, she delivered a heck of a speech – but she doesn’t know a thing – maybe God told her to say this since she says God wanted the Feds to contribute $$ for the gas pipeline, or the other earmarks she sought. She paid people for voting for her….in Alaska, they do that.

This is what happens when people don’t listen to Ron Paul. He called this one years ago.
GOP reaps what it sows. In this case, garbage.
Vote Panama John and Danielle Quayle ’08–and let stupidity regin!
(And Obama is no better–vote third party fo real solutions!)

What about these gaffes by Obama? USA has 57 states…..er I mean Christian (who confuses their own religion?)…I voted against the surge, but it was wildly successful, yet I wouldn’t have voted for the surge even if I knew it work work. What? This is the best the Dems could come up with for Prez? Cake walk for McCain/Palin. I just watched Biden’s rally speech on MSNBC…it’s like watching a cold fish flop around in a room filled with even colder fish.

Sorry Brandon, but it was George Bush who made it a goal to “make homes more affordable”…
Not a bad goal.
However, the process was totally unregulated and much of the mortgage crisis today is due to practices by mortgage companies who did not adhere to their own underwriting principles. Additionally, investment firms were packaging sub-prime loans as “Triple A” investments. That’s what you call an investment scheme… And you want to blame Andrew Cuomo and Hillary Clinton? Is that something that Shawn Hannity taught you?

This whatever it is is exhausting. How dare you expect anyone to know the details of Freddie/Fannie issue. The CEO’s don’t even know the details, hello that’s why we are in this mess. You are dumb for thinking this is a gaffe. Hello by the way it’s 200 Billion, that’s the check we as taxpayers could possibly write. If that’s not too expensive and too big, then we deserve the contempt of the world. By the way has Obama said anything in detail about this palooza of debt and mayhem. Of course not because he doesn’t discuss details! He just smiles and says some one liner about hope and the future and people swoon. I’m tired of the sexist attitudes!

Ryan C – Most towns have debt that they incur when they take on loans (usually state or federal loans) for capital improvement projects. Mayors never make these decisions solo – usually there is a town council, a town manager and voters who share in the success or failure. How much debt is your hometown currently in?

I did not know that they were private. I did not know that they were owned by INVESTORS. Learn something knew everyday.

Palin should have been asked for an explanation. At this point, I’m sure she has all her talking points memorized on this issue.

we did not bail out enron why should we the taxpayer have to bail out freddie and fannie, no body bails us out when the bills are not paid

Well,well,well, the barracuda finally opens her mouth to say something not prepared for her by a team of 10 speechwriters, and what does she say? Fannie and Freddie were supported by taxpayers and got too big. She got it backwards! Ha, ha. You know, if America does elect her, it’ll get what it deserves. More of the McSame, only now, with the empty suit – with lipstick! – twitching at his side.

And let’s hope Charles Gibson conducts a real (vs. “softball”) interview with Sarah Palin, like the grilling George Stephanopolis gave Barack Obama over the weekend. Then we’ll see if she’s confused or unprepared to be VP.

What’s important to note here is that this isn’t just a simple slip of the tongue. This shows a fundamental ignorance of the basics, and an attempt to speak with authority, when there’s no knowledge to back it up. Whether her supporters would know any better is debatable.

Actually, Governor Palin’s comment makes more sense than ABC’s critique of it. Fanny and & Freddie are (were?) private in the sense that private shareholders earned the *profits,* but they have always been subsidized by the implicit guarantee that the Federal government would bail them out. That *implicit* subsidy is now becoming an *explicit* one, but it’s always been there. (Think of it as the Govt all along paying insurance premiums for these risks.) In short: no, this isn’t a gaffe. For the long version, see today’s (Sept 8) Wall Street Journal editorial.
–Spencer B., PhD, economics prof. Georgia State Univ.

Now it appears that both McCain and Paling don’t have a clue about the nations economy and how things are run! Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are both private entities that Palin now says are too costly to taxpayers, unless of course she is saying it is too expensive to bail them out. If that is the case, then her opinion would destroy our capitalistic economic system. Gawd, too clueless people on the top of the Republican ticket.

When are we going to list Obama’s many gaffes?

Come on folks. the credit crisis was a combination of the huge increase in government debt, both republican and democrat. The housing crisis was due to increase in ARM’s and this was reflected in the valuble of the dollar. Most people who could afford their homes couldn’t when the rates readjusted and the economy shrank. Lok at Roman history and you will find that rome collapsed because they imported everything and were basically a “service” economy”. To quote my favorite personality Earl Pitts “Wake up America,Mcain is a good guy, but we neeed more than negative ads, we need a new way of doing things. By the way, why do we give big tax breaks to companies that don’t give Americans jobs? One of you bone heads suggested that corporate America should not be taxed becasue they create jobs, actually the vast majority of jobs are created by SMALL business.
Get real>>>>>>>>

What’s important to note here is that this isn’t just a simple slip of the tongue. This shows a fundamental ignorance of the basics, and an attempt to speak with authority, when there’s no knowledge to back it up. Whether her supporters would know any better is debatable.

As suspected she is an empty suit

I love the guy here who says Biden is just another “Washington politician”. And then, who does he say to vote for? McCain! All too funny!

Freddie and Fannie are no more government industries than banks (which are backed by the FDIC). There’s no such thing as a free market economy either. Businesses are pro-free market when they’re making profits (sometimes obscene profits, such as the oil companies right now), but all about the government (taxpayer) bailout when they’re not. A free market would let the housing market complete its crash (and send the general economy into a deeper recession or even a depression) and learn its lesson.

Unfortunately Obama was to quick to copy Palin and repeated the same thing. Oops!

Jim Andrews – With the acceptance of the notion that Fannie & Freddie should be bailed out, are you implicitly suggesting that it’s ok for this “conservative” president to engage in something completely socialistic in principle?
It’s hillarious how all of these Republicans are just accepting the “communist”-style bailout/takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as if it is not competely diametrical to everything that conservatives claim to believe in… Wow. I guess conservatives are becoming to the new “liberals”!

I pity the Republicans, especially the many who vote against their own self-interest. Government has grown under Republican rule. Bailouts are coming aplenty – and believe me, there will be more for the bankers and consumers who spent too much and made fast profits off of the stupid consumers. The government is using debt to pay for the failing investment banks and what does our country have to show for it? Not good jobs. Not good or safe infrastructure. A war where we got the country somewhat back to what it was when we started? Remember, we have borrowed from China and Russia to pay for the war.
Let’s end the bickering and the greed and think about what we want as a country. What are our goals? What do we want it to look like 50 years from now. We talk and behave like a bunch of binge drinkers and spenders.
It’s really tragic.

I don’t see where the confusion is in what Palin said.
The government has left a strong impression with the public and business community that it will always back Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a 100 percent. These two private businesses have been able to grow into massive giants by this implied backing.
Now that the bill could be upwards of $5 trillion dollars, it is time for the federal government to rethink its level of backing of mortgage giants, including limiting the size of these institutions that have the backing of the federal government (taxpayers).
Even the federal government limits the backing of YOUR deposits in private banks ($100K). The taxpayers are ultimately the insurers of these institutions.

McCain had 26 years to change Washington. But he didn’t.
Instead there was his friend Keating a savings and loan banker who McCain protected from the Banking Regulatory board telling them to back off his friend. And whom Bush SR. bailed out with billions in Taxpayer’s money.
Instead McCain abused his own bill he help push on stopping the use of taking money and gifts from Lobbyists and companies while a measure is on a bill that is up for vote or before the Senate Committee deciding on a measure of which McCain was head of.
McCain represent change? With his record? Dream on!

Palin showed us a clear example of her clueless background. Putting it bluntly, the woman is stupid. Like all Republicans supporting McCain, she counts on American voters to blindly follow her swishing hips no matter what she says. And the best the republican machine that supports this idiot could do only compounded her problem with their linguistic charades.

Palin doesn’t understand Fannie Mae or its function on Wall Street, or how its mismanagement played a part in America’s biggest financial disaster since the Great Depresssion… but that should not be a problem for the McCain campaign because they’re marketing to voters who don’t care. Even though the War in Iraq and the subprime mortgage crisis will affect the federal budget for decades, McCain is counting on voters to NOT understand.

Obma threw Hillary and Bill under the bus, look who is dragging them out from under the bus, now? Bill and Hillary have sunk to new lows, helping Obama. Everyone knows the unfriendly feeling between the Clintons and Osama. Looks like Obama can’t handle the heat!

This is too funny. Palin doesn’t have any idea about Fannie and Freddie. This is why people like her have no business being on anyone’s national ticket.
Fannie and Freddie operate like brokers. They buy loans originated by banks and then pool the loans and sell the pools to investors (many of which are large institutional investors). The problem was this: Fannie and Freddie bought would-be problem loans. Investors who bought their pooled loans got upset and they first tried to pursue some recourse against Fannie/Freddie. When that failed, they sold their interest in the pool. Word got out about Fannie’s trouble and fewer investors bought Fannie’s pools. Suddenly, Fannie and Freddie had these loans out there. . . and they owned the risk.
Palin likely has heard of Fannie and Freddie, but I doubt she understands their complexity. Few governors — aside from the more seasoned governors — would have a reason to understand this. Senators, Representatives and agency heads care about this. A governor who has been governing for 18 months has no idea.
If the Obama people don’t pounce on this obvious shortcoming, they’ll help ensure a Governor Palin becomes our Vice President.

The story I don’t buy is your “Jake” automtic skepticism. What do you want from a one sentence stump speech a doctorial? What we get from you “media” which is really good is an interview of Sarah’s arobics class. How about the other three do they exercise with anybody that has an opinion other then theirs?

I guarantee you that Charlie Gibson will throw her softball, b/c the media and ABC is own by white rich guys who are republican.
MSNBC just got rid of their 2 thoughest reporters because they dared to question the power and call the republicans on the carpet!
ABC will also buckel and not ask the hardball questions.
We are doomed! McCain/Palin are going to win and we will go to war.
Start kissing your babies goodbye, because McCain will bring the draft back (his great grandfather is the one who started it). Just like Bush I that went to Iraq, Bush II occupied it.
Be afraid….be very afraid.

Marc, I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve been saying that for a long time. In fact, my contention is that most Americans are single issue voters. Guns, abortion, gay marriage. Those are the only issues that matter to most of them. I just wish they had an intelligence test for gaining the right to vote.

Yes today they are taken over by the government and more than likely she already had that information. Are you the same 50% that think Saddam Hussein attacked the U.S. This bailout is going to cost the U.S. taxpayer big money and she is correct it should be split.

You would be hard pressed to find more than 5% of population that understands what Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac do as they are quasi-private entities.
They are perfect examples of cronism-capitalism that both parties were tied into. Dems be careful of being too loud on this failure – this is one of the Dems fav institutions.

Jake, thank you for asking these questions, but I think “confusing” is being too kind. What is the deal with the media being afraid to challenge Palin’s obvious lack of experience/knowledge for this position? If she were a man the Republicans would never have picked her. The whole thing is a sexist, hypocritical flim flam job and the media is playing along.

Dave – given the importance of Fannie & Freddie to our overall economy, shouldn’t Palin already understand how they are run? After all, she is the one with “EXECUTIVE” experience…

Based on what I’ve heard about Governor Palin, I’m surprised she didn’t simply ask us to all say a prayer for Frannie and Freddie. God will save them … problem solved! ;-)

Sarah is too confused on this issue, have her stick to more simple things like recipes and mooseburgers and which books to ban from my library

Give me a break…yes when it is privatized profit and social risk (taxpayer) it is become way too expensive to the American people…I wish you would disect some of Senator Obama’s comments as closely….two words for you buddy…”dem hack”

OH NO!!! You broke the case dude! Sarah Palin must be unqualified given this earth shattering revelation. Voters with such enlightening information will have clarity when they pull the lever in November. Mmmm, Palin on the “bailout” ,or on the other hand, Obama on making close ties with a radical non-repented anti-american who admitedly bombed an American facility and a man who is heading to the slammer. These are difficult choices; I select the woman.

You are sure grasping at straws with the so called Palin gaffe. What about Barrack saying on ABC “my muslim faith”. That was on your network and you neglect to even mention it. You are most definitely in the tank for Obama. Why not just admit it.

Palin has been scripted and reading from a teleprompter since her introduction about 10 days ago. She will have to answer questions and respond to her record and the claims she and the McCain campaign are making about it. You can’t train for the vice presidency in three weeks. She can’t remain sequestered and expect to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
I’m waiting for that first press conference.

The Republicans should drop
Palin and pick one who’s
more ready.
The Democrats should let Biden
go and put Hillary in the
Number 2 spot.

It’s really amazing to see how arogant many Democrats continue to be. Anyone who is a woman and supports a Republican is stupid; any minority who agrees with McCain is brainless; anyone who likes Palin is clueless.
Isn’t it interesting how the people who gave us “President” Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry, and now Obama think that somehow they know more than everybody else. How could any intelligent, wise, person ever think differently from them?
Unfortunately, the Democrats don’t ever learn and don’t ever get it. THey never make mistakes, so they tell themselves in a mutual admiration society. At least McCain has the sense to admonish his party when he thinks they are wrong. But the Democrats never are, are they!
Until the Democrats learn from their arrogant past and talk to Americans, respectfully, and actually listen without lecturing, then they may have the hope of electing one of their own. Until then, they will simply keep marginalizing themselves and talking in an echo chamber.

FNMA and Freddie got in this trouble by literally giving mortgages to the homeless. It seems a $10 an hour job qualified many people for a mortgage.
And now “I”…YES SARAH IS RIGHT…the taxpayer has to bail them out

When Russia invaded Georgia, Obama waffled for three days before finally coming to the same conclusion as Sen. McCain. At one point Obama said the UN Security Council should act – apparently he was not aware that Russia holds a veto on the Council. Where was ABC News then? Obama demonstrated that he lacks knowledge on how to navigate in this very dangerous world. ABC News must have been picking up its DNC talking points when Georgia was invaded.

Reminds me of the statement made on another network by Cindy McCain. She was asked if she was pro-life. “Yes,” she replied. Then they asked her if she supported Roe v Wade (the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion). “Yes,” she said. Then, realizing she’d gotten in deep, she started back pedaling. By the time it was over, I was sure of one thing. Cindy McCain had no idea what the exact relationship between Roe v Wade and legalized abortion on demand was. That was troubling, as is this confused meander by Sarah Palin. In a rational world, John McCain would have lost the election the minute he announced Sarah Palin as a running mate. But in this world, he may actually have gained a point or two on Obama. I’ve just never seen the like…

What a reach!!!!
The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have now become to expensive to the taxpayers because of the bail out.
But you can still support the bail out because of the need to do it and believe that statement.
nice try and better luck next time jake

It looks like joe lieberman and her other tutors did not do a good enough job on the economic side of her tutelage. It is the first of many. For someone to have taken 6 years to get through 4 years of college, it is inevitable.

I’m just an average person and I know both entities are private, not public. Tapper is correct in stating that any interpretation of Palin’s remarks reveal a contradiction in facts. As others have stated, she is suffering from a common problem encountered by people cramming for exams: She is getting her facts confused.

What about Obama “confusing statement” about Palin and earmarks? Why not cover that?
Obama:”She’s a skillful politician. But, you know, when you’ve been taking all these earmarks when it’s convenient, and then suddenly you’re the champion anti-earmark person, that’s not change. Come on! I mean, words mean something, you can’t just make stuff up.”
Problem is Obama requested $740 million in earmarks, steered a million to his wife’s employer, and directed state grants to his buddies like Fr. Michael Pfleger.
What you really can’t make up is the obvious collusion between the media and Obama It is just beyond belief that you would go after Palin for some innocuous remark yet cover up for Obama on his obvious confused statements and out right lies.

Sounds like your typical canned republispeak. in reality, of course, we just witnessed the largest nationalization of an industry in the history of civilization. once freddie’s and fannie’s liabilities hit the balance sheet of our country, we’ll have increase the national debt by 50%.

LOL…just the first of many “misstatements” that will come from the lips of Sarah…
Listening to all the ones that defend her, when she obviously didn’t understand what she was talking about, reminds me of “those with eyes who cannot see and those with ears who cannot hear…”

What part of “too expensive” you don’t understand when the government has to bail out Fannie and Freddie?

Nice to see Jake back to spewing DNC talking points….Posted by: geevill …
Don’t go getting all upset with Jake now geevill…. just because your “hockey mom” doesn’t have a clue what the issues are!!! geeesh….. she must have missed that day of school during her 6 years of college!!!

J . . . .who else besides the taxpayer is going to pay for this. . .do they have 200 billion hidden under the mattress?

You are confused:
“What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and what do they do?”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are “government-sponsored enterprises” (GSEs). This means that they are privately owned, but receive support from the Federal Government, and assume some public responsibilities.
The GSEs provide a secondary market in home mortgages, purchasing mortgages from the lenders who originate them. They hold some of these mortgages, and some are “securitized” — sold in the form of securities which the GSEs guarantee.
The two GSEs today are among the largest corporations in the world.
What mortgages do the GSEs purchase?
“Conforming mortgages” as they are called consists of all home mortgages that meet the underwriting requirements of the agencies, and are no larger than the largest loan the GSEs are allowed by law to purchase. In 2003 the maximum was $322,700. It is raised every year in line with increases in home prices. The mortgages the GSEs can purchase account for roughly 80% of the conventional (non-FHA/VA) home loan market.
What kind of support do the GSEs receive from Government?
The major support consists of the credit lines with the US Treasury. This, along with their histories — both were public institutions before they became privately owned — mark them as having a special claim for Government assistance in the event they ever get into financial trouble. As a result, investors consider the notes they issue and the mortgage securities they guarantee almost as good as securities issued by the Federal Government itself.
Do the GSEs have competitors?
Not in the conforming loan market. Because of their Government backing, the GSEs can sell notes and securities at a lower yield than any strictly private secondary market firm. This gives them a monopoly — or rather a duopoly, since there are two of them — in the market in which they operate.
The GSEs do have emulators, however, in the non-conforming market. While the cast of players changes, at any one time there are usually 15 or more strictly private firms that purchase non-conforming loans and securitize them in much the same way as the GSEs.
“Why do two private firms receive Government support, while the others don’t?”
The Government did not select the two firms for special treatment. Both the GSEs began as Government entities, and the major objective in privatizing them (while retaining Government support) was to encourage development of a private secondary market. The other firms arose later, based on the GSE model, so that objective was achieved.
If the objective was achieved, why do the GSEs continue to receive special support?
The GSEs are unwilling to give it up, and they have become so powerful politically that they have managed to thwart the several attempts that have been made to take it away.
Do I have anything at stake in this issue?
If you are a potential borrower eligible for a conforming loan, your interest rate will probably be about 1/4% lower than it would be absent the GSEs. This reflects their relatively low funding costs, part of which is passed through to borrowers.
In addition, if you are a low or low-to-moderate income borrower, and/or reside in an underserved area, you might find a loan through a GSE. As part of their public responsibility, the GSEs commit to purchase specified numbers of such loans. How many would not be made without the GSEs, however, is not clear.
As a taxpayer, on the other hand, you have a cause for concern. The low borrowing costs of the GSEs is based on implicit Government backing for their $3+ trillion of debt and guarantees. If the GSEs ever have a financial disaster, the Government will have to bail them out and you and I will be on the hook for the cost.
“Is anybody regulating the GSEs to prevent such a disaster?”
A few years ago Congress gave that responsibility to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Very few informed observers believe that HUD is up to the task.
“Is there a way to eliminate the risk of a financial disaster by removing Government support without hurting investors who rely on that support?”
It could be done by 1) revoking the credit line the GSEs now have with the Treasury, and b) providing an explicit Federal guarantee of all debt and GSE guarantees outstanding on the date the credit line is revoked. An explicit guarantee on the old claims would prevent any repercussions in the financial markets, yet put the markets on notice that news ones are not guaranteed. Over time, the volume of guaranteed claims would gradually decline.

geevill:
senator Obama is a confessed Christian and not a Muslim…..
That means he follows the teachings of Jesus, according to his confession, and not that of Mohammed……understand?
Now, in whom do you believe to save your soul? I believe in Jesus the Christ; the Son of the living God.

ABCnews will do anything to help Obama steal the election. You helped Obama cheat Hillary out of the nomination and now attempting to belittle a far superior candidate, than Obama. I would rather vote for Palin than Obama. Obama has associated with too many crooks, terrorists, criminals, racists and ant-american characters. I will never trust Obama!

I don’t like all the lies I’ve heard from her already.

No BJL it was Republicans that fought for and got with the majority they had deregulations on the entire industry juts like oil,power/enron loophole etc. they were fought for buy right wing lobbyist and passed by a GOP lead majority in congress. don’t use the old its the dems fault like Sen. Obama said it is time the GOP/President/Administration own their mistakes

Sara is humiliating herself. Knowing that she does not have the qualifications to be VP she went ahead and accepted the nomination. Why? She must be that dump, stupid and desperate to be in the spotlight. Sara step down and go home and take care of your down syndrome baby 24/7. Give me all the love he needs.

It is hysterical because the headline above the Jake Tapper smear is FANNIE MAE BALLOUT EXPENSIVE TO TAXPAYERS. So the nitwits at the political sections don’t realize that we have bailout at taxpayer expense. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is huge, bloated overpaid numbnuts. Just look at Obama’s first VP vetter — he got $20 million golden parachute from FANNIE MAE. Or did Jake forget that????

No, the rookie needs some more briefings on the economy. She is sitting with the big kids now, and needs to practice get information before (not after) she opens her mouth.

What do we expect from a woman that took 6 years to get through with 4 years of college? And the republicans are happy to have her one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United states. Bush certainly lowered their standards.

regarding Joe’s comment…..(From a 60+ female who has NO intention of voting for Palin and McCain………..
Palin is a grown woman, has been in politics for a few years, has to talk to teens on a regular basis……if she wanted to say something really specific as you claim she intended to say…….she should have just said it plain and clear…………
her comments do sound as if she misunderstands what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are………….
how do these two plan to pay for a war, bail out countless private industries, pay unknown quantities of dough to Halliburton, et al….
WHERE is the money coming from???…..bye-bye Social Security….work until you die………
as Obama said…..”you are on your own”……

Sarah Palin has literally only just begun!!!

I think it’s pretty clear… she’s an idiot.

What Barack Obama needs to do is explain what Karl Rove tactics are. They take your strength and turn it around on you. Example: Obama is “change” now they’re change. Alaska is tops on “ear Marks” now they’re make Obama king of era marks. Obama is a “celebrity” now they have a “Celebrity,” not for long though. Palin will be a flash. Obama needs to theach America what Karl Rove is about. McCain and Palin can lie but Obama and Biden can’t get away with it.

Maybe if she re-phrased that into “it’s GOING to be too expensive for the taxpayer” that would be more accurate? We all know who’s paying for it, it’s either taxes or they print more money and de-valuate the dollar. . . .either way WE PAY!!

Sherry 1969 how could you be more Un-American the to be part of a party that wants to well here is their words The AIP wants Alaskans to get an opportunity to vote on whether or not they will remain a state, or become a commonwealth, or split off as an independent nation.
They want to be seperate from the US and her and her husband are part of that . and she keeps claiming and there is a McSame/Falin ad out now that still claims it that she was against the bridge to nowhere well the money for the bridge to nowhere Alaska got it they just didn’t build the bridge they built all the roads going up to where it will begin and as gov. she did a speech to help get this money more on that later and said Washington thinks your nowhere well I don’t and she hired lobby firms to lobby for the money. But she’s an outsider YEAH RIGHT and Rush Limbaugh is a Liberal !!! and it was a Canadian firm she gave the contract to, to build this gas pipeline but their slogan is country first then find an American co. to do the pipeline and saying we need to use American resources the drill here drill now mindset well we used our best resource our brave men and women to fight in Iraq and the Bush admin lets China walk in and get contracts that American firms should have got to develop oil fields in IRAQ fields that will produce and low estimate of 125,000 barrels of oil a week with in 3 yrs not 10 and we the USA will end up guarding those Chinese workers that will be getting that oil and their trucks tankers in the gulf

She’s not up to speed on a lot of this stuff so she’s going to stumble. That’s why McCain will be chewing his fingernails during her upcoming interview with Charlie Gibson. Frankly, she comes across as kind of a local yokel trying to be liked by the guys from the big city. Given time, she may be capable of running a cookie sale.

Boy is ABCNews grasping for straws. First gaffe? Please. Get over yourselves.
Not as big a gaffe as Obama’s “above my paygrade” line about abortion. Or his alleged “I considered joining the military” BS.

The “baraccuda” flounders yet again. That woman is going to implode while she’s going through crash courses for her big exam in the race for the White House. America, wake up!!!

If you own a mutual fund or have a 401 k or pension plan or are a goverment worker you probably are backing the freddy/fanny with your investments your tax dollars

Here are the facts: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are “government-sponsored enterprises” (GSEs). This means that they are privately owned, but receive support from the Federal Government, and assume some public responsibilities.
The GSEs provide a secondary market in home mortgages, purchasing mortgages from the lenders who originate them. They hold some of these mortgages, and some are “securitized” — sold in the form of securities which the GSEs guarantee.
The two GSEs today are among the largest corporations in the world.
What mortgages do the GSEs purchase?
“Conforming mortgages” as they are called consists of all home mortgages that meet the underwriting requirements of the agencies, and are no larger than the largest loan the GSEs are allowed by law to purchase. In 2003 the maximum was $322,700. It is raised every year in line with increases in home prices. The mortgages the GSEs can purchase account for roughly 80% of the conventional (non-FHA/VA) home loan market.
What kind of support do the GSEs receive from Government?
The major support consists of the credit lines with the US Treasury. This, along with their histories — both were public institutions before they became privately owned — mark them as having a special claim for Government assistance in the event they ever get into financial trouble. As a result, investors consider the notes they issue and the mortgage securities they guarantee almost as good as securities issued by the Federal Government itself.”
In simple terms this means that the tax payers are on the hook for the notes and mortgage securities that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make. Thus when the note and loans go bad, the tax payers have to cover them. So what Palin said is true, Palin: “The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be broken up, made smaller and made completely “private” so that the tax payer is no longer on the hook when bad notes and mortgage loans are made.
Jake Tapper, why not be a little honest about your articles instead of twisting the facts into pretzels in an effort to make Palin look bad. You are just too obvious in your support for Obama.

Lets focus on the real issues-Palin will be her own worse enemy-I have a friend who had to drop her insurance so she can put gas in her car and more food on the table for her family. This is more important than what Palin is saying. Obama just keep focused on the issues, don’t let them derail you. People like “others” to ride their emotional elevator-don’t do it. It is not worth it-Time is the essence and it will reveal the truth. Always has and always will-
GO OBAMA

None of you seem to understand economics. As I worked in a similar industry – student loans – I know what goes on behind closed doors. People were hugely used in that business until the government finally stepped in approx a year ago. The people get money on the front, back and in between and squeeze the consumer out..Jake., you just keep grabbing at staws…you obviously do not understand economics…

so gary what you are saying so long windedly is they are private with credit lines from the gov. mainly because being that big they need gov funding . but they ARE “private”

Gaffe? I don’t think so. The taxpayers are always the ultimate losers in these deals.
I don’t see a gaffe. But, I know the MSM are hoping.
I just wish ABC had not received the first interview with Sarah, after this biased article you don’t deserve it.

Palin understands just fine. Maybe Jake and some of the commenters need to study up. Fannie & Freddie are only pseudo-private and backed by the US government, i.e., taxpayers. That makes her 1 for 1. McCain probably supports the buyout, but Palin is right…the taxpayers are going to get soaked! That makes her 2 for 2.

What is so laughable, Chatty Kathy Palin and McShame think that just because they say something, it must be TRUE. They are desparate and will say anything, no matter how big the lie.
“The plane sold for a profit on eBay.” Wrong. Palin pushed for the Bridge to Nowhere, then backed out, but still kept the $26 million in earmarks.
Americans can see thru this BS.

Being a life long Republican I’m going to vote for Obama this time. Palin is just nice but doesn’t have the depth to be a VP for this country.

What do you expect? This is a woman who didn’t have a passport until 2007. Is there any wonder the McCainBush team is keeping her away from those pesky media types? No questions for Sarah … less likely to have gaffes like this trickle out. Bottom line, it’s unfair to expect ANYbody to get up to speed this fast — the problem isn’t her, it’s John McCain’s poor judgment in foisting this affirmative action choice on us.

Yesterday, McCain reiterated Sarah Palin’s claim that she sold an Alaska How about McCain’s gaffe that Palin sold an Alaska state jet on eBay “for a profit!”
Palin listed the jet on eBay, but it never sold there. It was eventually turned over to an aircraft broker who sold it for $2.1 million.
Considering that the state paid $2.7 million for the jet in 2005, that’s a loss of $600,000 (not including the broker’s commission!)
Maybe the way the Bush tax cuts work, you can sell your private jet for a huge loss and still come out ahead?

but Palin is right…the taxpayers are going to get soaked! That makes her 2 for 2.Posted by: jake needs to study up | Sep 8, 2008 6:19:03 PM
That isn’t what she said.
“The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help>”
If you read that she sounds as if she is saying the taxpayers are paying too much already. How can that be if the bailout was just announced over the weekend? And I doubt that last part is true either.

Gary, I read your post and it cleared up a lot of misinformation that Jake Tapper and the Obama supporters are trying to spread about Palin.
Any organization where:
“investors consider the notes they issue and the mortgage securities they guarantee almost as good as securities issued by the Federal Government itself.”
cannot be called wholly “private” as JakeTapper said.
Poor reporting, but not surprising from a reporter who is so obviously in the tank for Obama.

She was reading a speech written by the McCain team. She clearly didn’t know better, but the bigger question is does McCain understand Freddie & Fannie.

That’s the first, more comming in the mail. Just wait until the Charlie Gibson interview. He’ll throw her some softballs and she will still miss. Just give it time. I do give her credit however, she is trying her best.

Hey, you’re going to ding her for that? Why don’t you ask Obama what he meant when he said 10,000 people died in an Arkansas tornado, or when he said he’d campaigned in 57 states, or when he referred to “my muslim faith”, or when he had to put out a series of responses to the crisis in Georgia because the first one (two and three) were incorrect.

What was your headline – 1st Gaffe? Palin’s Fannie and Freddie Fudge. I am sick of the way you reporters are so quick to pounce on this woman.
She is right. In the end, it is our tax dollars that are going to pay for these two bailouts and in that sense, they have become too expensive. The bailout amount is HUGE and look what the CEOs are being allowed to walk away with in their pockets!
So, perhaps there isn’t any 1st Gaffe to report other than your own. I am sure she completely understands Fannie and Freddie. But, you are so eager to find fault with this woman.
I have heard there is a pandora’s box sitting waiting to be opened about Obama’s white brother – Is it any wonder he said family is off limits? Perhaps you can go spend some time researching that issue and get back to us on it.
I just don’t get it. What has Obama done to earn this Presidency?
And, you are right, geevill, Obama made an Freudian Slip in one interview he had when HE said something about his Muslim Faith, oops, Christian Faith. Really makes you wonder what he is hiding doesn’t it?

Oh, Sarah! You’re the new Dan Quayle.

sawrad, about the jet, Palin did not buy the jet in the first place and one of her campaign promises was to cut government spending, so in my view, by selling the jet she got some of the tax payers money back and saved on the maintenance costs.
By the way, Palin did put the jet on ebay and then sold it elsewhere. What is the big deal with this? I do not get it. If all you guys have are where Palin sold the jet and the bogus story Tapper is trying to sell about Fannie and Fredie, you don’t have much.
And then there is your hero Obama: Obama whose good buddy, Ayers wants to blow up America, whose church of twenty years taught the hate whitey creed of black liberation theology, whose good old buddy Rezco, a convicted felon, helped buy him a home that Obama said was a “bone headed” decision, who has less experience under his belt than Palin, and many more skeletons in the closet that are starting to come to light. ie. whose pocket the public money from the failed Annenberg Challenge went into. etc etc etc

Come on- she doesn’t have clue.
I’d like to see her in a geo-quiz with Biden.
First, our allies and our war zones-
Second, some hard ones like China and India.
Third, some real stumpers from the lower 48 like New York and California.
When they said Fannie Mae I’m surprised she didn’t accuse them of making a sexist comment.

Mary wrote: Poor reporting, but not surprising from a reporter who is so obviously in the tank for Obama.
Yeah… what is up with that?? Every article that is posted on ABC by Jake Tapper has been very pro- Obama and overly whiney about McCain. It is getting very annoying. It is getting to the point that when I see that he is the one writing the piece, I know it will be so distorted, it probably isn’t even worth a read.

If she had just said something clever like “that would be above my paygrade” everything would have been fine. . . . . When will she learn??

I think it’s pretty clear that she has no idea what Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac do, or even more scary, what the purpose of the bailout is.

She was referring to the bailout, the probability of which happening and the impact to the taxpayers has been in the news for weeks and weeks now. It wasn’t a gaffe. It’s official as of today. Government conservancy of the GSE’s. Going to cost the taxpayers plenty.
Did you by chance read the article in the Journal highlighting that OBAMA took over $105,000 from the FRE/FNM lobbyists??? He’s in the #3 spot on a list of 25 top receivers in Congress.
McCain on the otherhand has long called for more oversight of FRE/FNM, and took not a nickel from their lobbyists.
Obama is a liar. He’s in the special interests pocket big time. Just like Exelor. Look that one up people.
On the luxury jet…you’re missing the larger point. She did put it up for sale on Ebay. And ultimately sold it through another venue. The point is she didn’t take the Perk. And the Alaska people are currently not paying for the hangar to house it, the fuel to fly it, the pilot salary to fly it, maintenance, insurance, etc.

On the luxury jet…you’re missing the larger point. She did put it up for sale on Ebay. And ultimately sold it through another venue. The point is she didn’t take the Perk. And the Alaska people are currently not paying for the hangar to house it, the fuel to fly it, the pilot salary to fly it, maintenance, insurance, etc.
Posted by: NJVoter | Sep 8, 2008 6:44:43 PM
Ohhhh geeez she’s such a maverick!

In a word, YES. You guys in the press are always splitting hairs on semantics and getting no where with anyone who is upfront and uncluttered in their thinking.

She was simply referring to Greenspan’s comments about making them smaller. Geesh give her a break.

I knew she was a dumb blonde!!

Wow – this just shows the partisans are not thinking straight.
Too big or equivalent to out economy.
Add another Mac or go back to the rules before fannie and freddie were founded?
Quit crying like children, think about the issue.
So, she may or may not have known what she was speaking about, however no party has the corner on accuracy. No party is more knowledgeable than the other. You could reverse a majority of the ideals each party claims to stand for and as long as its your team, the lemmings or partisans will follow right along.

Pablo Pena, You are sure twisting your self into knots in an effort to make Palin look bad. Not working dude.

She has no idea what she is talking about. Not a clue. Just spewing fall-back GOP talking points.

Obviously she has absolutely no idea what she’s talking about.
This is the first time she made a comment without a speech writer feeding her lines or John McCain telling herr what to say. Scary that this woman could be a heart beat from the Presidency.

Tom, I agree with you. Attacking Gov. Palin on basic competence isn’t going to resonate. She’s too good as a debater, and has demonstrated a command of the local and municipal issues she’s had to deal with as a small-town and small-state politician. Granted that’s not the same caliber as holding your own on the international stage, but she clearly isn’t Dan Quayle in a skirt.
More fruitful will be pointing out just how far to the right she is. Her extreme views on social and environmental issues are in the mainstream for Alaska, but not for the country as a whole. My aunt fits Gov. Palin’s demographic profile, and was very excited about her the first week after she was announced, but has now come down to earth as she has learned about the Governor’s views on abortion (no choice for you if you were impregnated by a rapist or your abusive brother), science (teaching creationism in geology class) and the environment (well to the right even of the Bush administration, suing them for listing polar bears as a threatened species).

THE BAILOUT IS HYPER-EXPENSIVE
THE BANKRUPTCIES ARE EXPENSIVE
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT..?
THIS LADY, PALIN, IS TEFLON
IT WONT STICK
TRY SOMETHING ELSE..PLEASE.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR OBAMA…
HILLARY CANTT SAVE HIM NOW. WE ARE NOT LISTENING TO HILLARY..

Jerry wrote, “Gov. Palin received a degree in communication and a minor in politics. She earned a scholarship to college. Obama was affirmative action, as he couldn’t pass the entry exam. My vote goes to McCain/Palin. No affirmative action president for our great country !!!”
Obama declined to state his ethnicity on his application to Harvard. He got in on his own merits to one of the most demanding schools in the country. Sarah switched 6 times in 6 years to achieve a less demanding degree from a less demanding university. Hmmm…

Fannie, Freddie has been out of control for a very long time. A federal take-over is the only way for the economy not to crash. This is serious stuff. What the next v.p. said was ok. You have no idea how bad the taxpayers are going to get slammed on this. Hang on for dear life! Plus giving a democratic controled congress a free pass will do unbelievible harm to home owners. You darn well better hope that a republican gets into office. Obama and his group want to “punish” homeowners. He also wants to tax retirees that just want to sell a primary residence and realize enough funds to help them retire. He also wants to tax capital gains higher. The economy is is the toilet as it is. You slow down free enterprise much more and jobs are going to go bye-bye. If you all want cost of living increases and other things like healthcare you better wake up and smell the flowers when it comes to this election. Or maybe you just want to go to the backdoor of the White House and get some free cheese. Or maybe if your lucky, Obama will allow you to take a picture of him and his crown. This is a land of idiots!

She is a Big Idiot, she didnt know what she was talking about, she is a Phony!

Peggy Hill doesn’t know what she is taking about does she? Do you get the feeling that she just inserted “Freddie Mac and Fanny May” into her talking points?
What a joke. Enjoy your few days of being up in the polls. McCain is already brain dead…so is Peggy.

Of course she doesn’t know what she is talking about. The woman is not bright. But since that doesn’t matter to republicans – we’ve had Bush for 8 years & McCain was last in his class, this will not bother them one bit. Nor will any other mistake she makes (and she WILL make many) because she touts the party line.

Republicans should be embarassed by Palin’s ignorance. That is what you get when you want an “outsider”. It’s like calling for a plumber to perform heart surgery on you.

Hopefully McCain will let her actually speak to the press on her own. We need to understand what she really knows and if she is really ready for Washington.
If this is an indication…she is not ready.

Pacific moderate, I do not agree with you. Attacking Palin on just how “far right” she is will not work. For one thing, Obama’s connections to the loony far left including Ayers, Wright and Rezco make Palin look like a moderate in comparison. Also, Abortion is pretty much a phony issue. Even if Roe vs. Wade is over turned it would just go back to the States and any one with common sense knows that the only State that may place any serious restrictions on abortion is Utah. As to environmental issues, a lot of people in the US have not bought into global warming dooms day scenario many on the far left are promoting. Plus their pocket book, the gas price at the tank, will trump global warming any day. Another thing, what exactly is mainstream? The circles you run in may think of Palin as “far right” while middle America may think Palin’s view fall pretty much in line with theirs.
The real issue is, that the left always takes things to far and are so over the top on their efforts to demonize their opponents. The best way to counter Palin, would be if Clinton had been nominated instead of Obama. Than we might of had a chance.

I’m perplexed by many of the comments on this blog.
FNMA and FMAC, commonly known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were set up as largely private entities, with an unspecified vague promise of government backing. They got hijacked by reckless management and a Republican unwillingness to say “no” to Wall Street. Financiers playing with shareholders’ money gambled and lost. Unfortunately that put mortgage security at risk for the nation.
That’s why the taxpayer had to finally step in.
Palin’s comments clearly indicate she thought the two agencies were some kind of government office, as in “a bureaucracy that’s gotten too big.” I don’t know where to start with the level of confusion her comment portrays.
The only literal sense one can make of it is that FNMA and FMAC took on way too many mortgages through reckless policies encouraged by the Bush administration. I don’t know where McCain voted on all that, but I’d bet anti-regulation and pro-Wall Street.
What we get, of course, is that now both entities really ARE government wards–we taxpayers just ante’d up $10 – $20 billion to rescue them.
Bush-McCain–privatize profits, outsource losses–to the taxpayers.
Palin says–huh?
She’s smart, and fast on her feet–just not very well educated. No one can do a cram course in foreign policy, economics, regulatory practice; even McCain readily admits he doesn’t understand economics. So why should we be surprised Palin makes a boo-boo? It’s tough stuff. No wonder they’re keeping her under wraps.

Tyrone: You must have missed my earlier entry …
Come on. Anyone who watched the “grilling” saw that Barack Obama misspoke during a series of questions and responses involving the words Muslim and Christian; he immediately corrected himself. On the other hand, Sarah Palin, demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding about an important issue. There’s a huge difference!

I think Palin is bright… she is sly.. however the Republican machine has her under their thumb right now so it will be more of the s o bush s however she seems more capable of reading a teleprompter.. of course they teach you that in the pageantry circuit!!

sexism alert – failure to get the whole story alert! …here we go again, while Obama gets an easy pass from the media, the woman gets grilled…Obama stated he was inclined to support intervention, while his Foreign Policy Advisor is a lobbyist for Freddie Mac and big oil. The DNC candidate’s answer is weak and insufficient as a presidential candidate AND his advisor was a Freddie Mac lobbyist. Palin’s correct that they are too big, especially since they can afford to hire lobbyists. She is correct again on the financial exposure is too big to put onto the taxpayers.

Jerry, the only ignorant ones about Fanny and Freddy here are those that are trying to defend Paline’s absolute un-informed answer to the question. And TJ, Clinton has stated anything about Paline’s gaff. She does not have to. The teflon will peel off the more the Palin speaks. She REALLY does not have the knowledge to do the job. REALLY DOES NOT.

Joyce:
“She was simply referring to Greenspan’s comments about making them smaller. Geesh give her a break”
———————–
Hardly. The point of the article is that she has no clue that these organizations are private entities, not government agencies.

Now I understand even more why McCain wasn’t letting her do interviews. Better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you’re a fool then opening it and proving it.

geeking, definitely a sexism alert. Do whatever we can to divert attention from her inadequecies.

Hardly. The point of the article is that she has no clue that these organizations are private entities, not government agencies.
Posted by: DennisNC | Sep 8, 2008 7:22:09 PM
It’s obvious that half the readers on here don’t get that. So much for our education system teaching reading comprehension.

Crying sexism is the same as saying “don’t hurt me”. A last resort for those who have nothing else to protect those that make fools out of themselves.
Posted by: dlboggan | Sep 8, 2008 7:26:24 PM
This coming from a woman who called Hillary a “whiner”.

IT WILL SHOW UP IN THE DEBATE
The debate will handle Palin for sure. Her education is being hottly questioned.
We can hope it will be like the famous Linclon-Douglas debates:
Stephen A. Douglas — Canandaigua Academy, “Graduate of Distinction”
Abraham Lincoln — (no formal edcucation)
Next?

Just be thankful she didn’t threaten to sell them on Ebay. Karl Rove need to keep a better eye on her, Sarah’s starting to stray from the teleprompter. Not good.

Palin needs to answer the media’s (our) questions and stop hiding behind speech writers. We have a mere two months to get to know her, but she’s hiding behind McCain. All of these sexism and “liberal” media bias claims are ridiculous. She’s the one that said Hillary was whining about the press picking on her and now she’s not even giving people the opportunity to ask her questions. She’s runnning for VP. We have the right to question and ask anything of her that we want. That’s the point. We need to asses who she is, what she stands for, how informed she is on issues, and how well she can think on her feet. If she can’t do these basic things she has no busisness running in the first place.

Republic: Let’s see now. Whom owned and managed Fanny and Freddy. The basic answer that educated and informed people know is that they were owned by Corporations, not Government. These corporations “lobbied” to have the rules loosened to provide the types of loans that these corporations chose to use with the customer. These types of Corporations that try to create profits at all costs by any means are what is getting this country into such dire financial trouble. This has always been the Republican strategy. No government oversight to do anything they wish. Now, thanks to Republican and Corporatist policies we are paying through the nose for not just our mortgages but now with our taxes. The very taxes that the Republicans are fighting against. Bailing their back ends out. Hypocrisy and debt dumping at its best. So, what is happening to those that supported these policies changes and management practices? I want to know….. Do you think McCain and Palin will do the right thing. I don’t think so as they obviously “do not get it”.

Obama is one to talk Fannie & Freddie
gave lots of money to him for his campaign. As a matter of fact out of all the candidates he took more.

What Jake Tapper is not telling you and the much bigger story as the fact that Ginnie and Freddie gave money to ACORN, the radical left organization that Obama is associated with. What about it Jake? Going to cover that story? Hmmm

The question here is wheither America want a totally novice lady as head of this country just because she is a woman. what message deos it send to yound generation? dont study, go ahead and be a miss, have a baby at 12, bring it in front of the camera and America will be sympathic and elect you president.
That is a good idea if America was the only country on the earth. Guest what, in few years many countries will take you over and you will stay there with your cowboy hat.

I just love the way Obama naysayers.. always back up their comments with quotes or urls that are someone else’s quotes about someone else’s opinions… who surprise.. are Obama opponents..

Sarah Palin…to little…to far…too fast…

Sam get this, freddie and fannie are not government entities, they are government created, not government run. That is why they spent 170 million on lobbyists.(something mayor palin knows something about) Sarah said a boo boo because her tutors didn’t cover this in her economic program at the lieberman school of economics

I worked for Freddie Mac and Palin’s comment is 100% accurate.
Many people do not know or understand the function of FMAC. They ARE too expensive to tax payers. They tack on enormous FEES to your Mortgage Lender who then passes that fee on, along w/ their own on top of it, to YOU.
I understand the public not understanding their function but certainly not a news organization!

If McCain is such a maverick and against the Republicans? Why doesn’t he run as an independent?
I can’t believe that the republicans will allow him to get outside their party’s control. i.e Sara Palin
I can’t believe we can be manipulated so easily by the Republican propaganda machine. i.e. WAR with IRAQ, this Election… If there was a oscar for propaganda the Republicans win hands down.
Just vote for McCain

American execs are bred to milk the govt. Till you find a way to hold them responsible for their fiduciary lapses they will always find a way. These people aren’t leading corporate citizens, they are thieves who should be treated worse than those who steal 100$ at the corner grocery to feed their children. This is not an accident, it is a short term business plan. That leaves Americans with the bill. They ate at the table and ate like pigs then stuck you and I with the bill, I’m not averse to knocking on doors to get them to pony up. They aren’t responsible they need fear, and we need to stop wiping their butts. And McCain thinks they need a tax because they stimulate the economy. It’s all talk, they are in the same bed Obama likely isn’t going to do anything either.

“Most people are not as ignorant and stupid as the left.”
Just like most people are not god loving Americans and the left is Socialist. Common dude get a grip, think about your Country not your party. We’re in this altogether, let us save our Country.

As time goes by, the incompetence of this wing-nut will become impossible to ignore. The 28% hardcore kool-aide drinkers can enjoy her all they want to, but she will be rejected by the sane majority. I hope.

WHEN did education become a NON qualifier for PRESIDENT? It is amazing to me that this woman with barely a college education who claims that she is part of the middle class (you did hear her say “us”—she has on over $500 eyeglasses people–most middle class folks are at wallyworld buying their glasses)is even seriously being considered for VP.
She is UNDEREDUCATED, HAS NO UNDERSTANDING OF FISCAL MATTERS and NO EXPERIENCE IN FOREIGN DIPLOMACY.
Does she even know WHAT is going on in the world? They can not keep her holed up and bring her up to terms on all the World History in a few weeks.
She should have been reading and studying as most serious politicians do—not out hunting moose and fishing.
Wait, maybe she could have been supervising her family better and not contributing to the demise of american values?
Conservatives your backdoor morals and values are SHOCKING. So, let me get this right—it is okay if I am an evangelical or republican to have premarital sex, get pregnant, keep the baby, get married at 17 to a boy that states that he is a “redneck”? Come on People…don’t let the Republicans snow ball you again.

DennisNC: “Palin was referring to BEFORE the bailout.” You’re wrong. The bailout has been an active discussions for several weeks. Everyone who has been following the story knew it was going to be expensive and knew it was inevitable.
Posted by: Arbie | Sep 8, 2008 7:56:06 PM
If you read her comments that is not what she said. Geez would you people get some type of reading comprehension.

How many states to we have?….57???

Sarah Palin is correct. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac grew at an extremely fast rate and now insure $5 trillion worth of very questionable quality mortgages.
They will have to pay hundreds of billions of dollars because of foreclosures and shrinking home valuations. They don’t have anywhere near the funds needed to make good on their obligations. If they did, the government wouldn’t be taking them over.
Part of the bailout plan are requirements to shrink both entities. This will lower the outstanding risk to US taxpayers, who will be paying for all of this.
I don’t understand why you cannot understand this. It is fairly simple.

the Gibson interview is a farce – we all know that he will roll over for Palin.

All these slurs about anything but Palin’s misstatement makes me think you guys don’t know how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are structured either.
Here’s the facts, she likes standing up in front of crowds that are non-critical and made up only of her base, however, she doesn’t know what the *bleep* she’s talking about.

I’m willing to bet that 95% of the people posting here have no idea what Freddie and Fannie are or how a GSE is similar to yet differs from a regular public company. I hate bailouts, but I guess we have little choice on this one. Freddie and Fannie have been propped up largely by Democrats, but also by Republicans in Congress. And much as you hope for it to be true, Governor Palin is not a stupid woman and she is going to be the next Vice President of the United States. This one isn’t even going to be close.

I believe that she was adlibbing and got off track. She did not understand what she was saying.
She is not qualified. On any level.
It is not a question of just lacking experience – the experience she does have is bad. Her ‘executive’ accomplishments are meager.

Okay – after venting I feel better. Honestly the compenstion levels of american execs is whacked. Stock based compensation only leads to manipulation and a lack of transparecy in financial statements. The punishment for malfeasance is necessary but how to accomplish it is very difficult. I’d really like to hear some ideas from the candidates.

Palin made these comments on Sat. two days before the announced bailout.. so…..

The response was a typical non answere, with a touch of sleight of hand/mouth. We hear so much of this it’s a mystery why we even bother asking the questions.
The very real issue is that all this financial mess is a direct result of the successful republican (Phil Gramm as Senator and then lobbyists) accomplishment of de-regulation of banking institutions. And who is the primary advisor to McCain on this matter, why Phil Gramm. When they say he no longer is with the campaign the translation is he is out of sight but still in play.

“Sarah Palin is correct.”?
How do you reconcile the statement “The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” and the fact that it has been costing the taxpayer NOTHING?
Amazing.

I thought she was alot like our ‘wonderful’ president. Now she has proved it. Just like him she needs speech writers to to write for her. From Bushisms to Palinisms.

Oh lord…spin, spin, spin, spin…from both sides.
Shouldn’t the Right now be upset because Freddie and Fannie have basically been nationalized…which is kind of socialist and all those other bad words.
Shouldn’t the Left attempt to propose some novel solutions to these situations instead of doing the “Bush’s Fault” dance.
And isn’t it obvious to everyone that Sarah Palin is in no way suited for the role that she’s been given…other than having someone from the Lord’s Army in the national spotlight.

Govenor Palin’s statement highlights why her educational record is so relevant to her qualifications. Why did she start out as business major and then switch to a “broadcast journalism” major? Did she bomb in business? Her statement would seem to indicate that is a very real possibility.
Before journalism died in this country, perhaps a red flag would have gone up when she said she selected her major because she because of her love of writing. Also, what is up with her selection of childrens’ names. If I named my son “baseball” people would be asking about my priorities and influences and perhaps speculating that I might have a screw loose. But again, because journalism died in the US, these obvious red flags go unquestioned.
John McCain is at an age that makes it a strong possibility that he will not be able to complete his term. Do we really want a female version of an inexperienced George W. Bush leading the nation? Could we survive?
Ah but the anchors look so marvelous.

cwest:
” Palin made these comments on Sat. two days before the announced bailout.. so…..”
———
Good point. That makes her statement all the more bizarre.

Sarah Palin is just exposing her true identity: Alaska-first secessionist who knows nothing about the United States of America. Sarah Palin said in her RNC acceptance speech that America’s presidency is not supposed to be a personal journey of discovery. Right, America’s presidency is not supposed to be John McCain’s personal journey to discover that he is unfit to handle the job of the president. And America’s vice presidency is not supposed to be a personal journey of an Alaska secessionist to discover and experience the real America.

Sarah Palin is correct. Read the details of the bailout plan. It requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to SHRINK their operations and obligations.
They are required to DOWNSIZE their loan portfolios by 10% a year.
Why are they required to downsize? Because currently they are too large. They carry $5 trillion of debt on their books.
Hello? Why else would they get taken over by the government? Management was a disaster, there were no underwriting rules and things were spiraling out of control. They had no earnings, no cash on hand and no hope of paying off all their claims.
I buy/sell stock for a living and watched their stock prices going from the 60s to less than 5, BEFORE the bailout was announced.

We may not know the difference but you’d expect the potential Vice President to know that Fannie May is a private institution. A pathetic pick.

“Though they’re private entities ultimately backed up by the taxpayers.”
The same way that Savings and Loans are. Is she going to also say that the Savings and Loans have gotten too big and expensive for the taxpayers?

Sarah Palin is correct. Read the details of the bailout plan. It requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to SHRINK their operations and obligations.Posted by: Dogstar | Sep 8, 2008 8:13:56 PM
She was responding BEFORE the bailout. In which case she is wrong.

FDIC has bailed out 11 banks and counting. If this keeps up, what happens next? The taxpayers will continue to foot the bill because the non-taxpayers (rich folks) are shielded from risk. Is this right? Not at all.

Obama/Biden 08!!!
Phil and Wendy Lee Gramm did a nice economics tutor job for know-nothing-about-America Alaska secessionist Sarah Palin. I am sure Joe Lieberman will tutor her to mix the Sunnis and Shiites and al Qaeda and Taliban and Hamas all in one bowl.
Obama/Biden 08!!!

Sarah Palin the MANIPULATOR gets what she wants, she knows how to get what she wants. She knows how to spin all the suckers around her little finger. She don’t impress me none

Heather says, “Do you think this will be LESS expensive to tax payers, now that it is RUN BY THE GOVERNMENT?”
My response: No, it will be very expensive. That is exactly what Sarah was talking about. And the longer we allowed those two companies to operate, the worse it would have got. If you read about the bailout, you will see that all of upper management was fired and the operating rules for the company have changed.
The company is required to tighten standards, sell off loan portfolios, insure fewer mortgages and shrink outstanding debt.
Sarah Palin was correct, and she was obviously briefed on what was going to happen before the fact.
Wall Street was talking about the takevoer on Friday, so why is it a surprise? She didn’t bring it up until Saturday, after the plan was in progress.

I am amazed at the way rep. tow the party line.. I swear they could put little Brit or Lindsey up there and spin it like cotton candy at the state fair.. and ya’ll would be right there.. defending it… well Sarah is perhaps a slightly better pick then those two.. but she better get a clue.. or she is gonna make it really tough on ya’ll.. Lock and load honey it only get’s tougher..

Oh wait maybe she does know about taxpayer bailouts. I guess your right she is more qualified in this area. She left her hometown taxpayers 20 MILLION in debt, that they will have to be bailed out of! lol

Anytime I have ever heard the two lenders mentioned it has been mentioned in the same light as the Government. For example “Bill Clinton selects so an so to be the chairman or Government,or loans issued to first time and low income buyers by fredie mac and fredie mae guarantted by the us government’. And if it wasn’t a Governemt operation, regretfully, it surely is now. What a bath that all of us taxpayers are taking.

God will provide

Look, We all know that the Dems hate Sarah. But it just does not matter. She and her new boss will still win the election. Obama snorted coke, has a terrorist friend and his pastor hates Anerica! Nick Nick

Palin, the Wizard of Oz…once you take curtain away ( a speech written by Bush’s team) she is not qualified. The first of many gaffes to come.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have always been guaranteed by the Federal government. So, Sarah was correct.
The longer they were allowed to do business, the larger the ultimate bill would have been.
Their stock went basically to zero. Their cash was gone. They had no assets, no value, no hope.

Many of the conservative commenters on this board seem to think that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac created the subprime problem; that is hardly the case. It was greedy private lenders and the investment firms that bought their bogus loans that created the bubble – and it was *those* entities that counted on the security of FNMA and FHLMC to soften any blows they might experience. The gov’t created these institutions as a means to help lower-income people obtain mortgages, but Wall Street decided they were better suited as insurance for mortgage speculation -not so coincidentally, this took place shortly after changes in financial regulation that broke down many of the barriers between mortgage lenders and investment banks. Bit, sure, blame the government because businessmen decided to pervert gov’t programs for their own short-term gain, Seems pretty consistent with contemporary conservative morals.

I will never believe any economic plans that come out from John McCain and Sarah Palin because they all come out from Phil and Wendy Lee Gramm.
Sarah Palin said, “The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”
This is nothing but a negligently scripted cover word for the Phil and Wendy Lee Gramm style further financial deregulations that will completely destroy the country and make Osama bin Laden happy. It is not necessary to parse the words to figure out what she means. It simply came out from Phil and Wendy Lee Gramm.

Palin is eye candy and brought in to inject life into McCains lifeless campaign. She is in a cone of silence, Bush’ speechwriter wrote her speech and she is short sighted and hot tempered, does that remind you of anyone. Her personal life is a mess, her tenure in alaskan govt is a disgrace and now when McCain gts elected and croaks, she will be the leader of the free world. Woohoo, no wonder the world considers us AMercans stupid.

Most people saying they support Palin have only known about her for two weeks. Is that what this country has become? People making one of the most important decisions they can based on two weeks? John McCain spoke to this woman once before picking her. Right now, in my company-a global company that takes its hiring decisions very seriously has interviewed people that work for the company for new positions at least TWICE! Come on, people! Did you ever get a job based on a few minutes of conversation? Talk about affirmative action pick! Palin is the queen of affirmative action! No way on earth she would have been chosen if she were a man! Snap out of your delusions and think about ALL Americans! McPalin cannot run this country. Talk about our enemies ready to strike? I’m sure this fumbling duo would be just the encouragement they need!

Free Obama Campaign Ads from ABC News.
By the way why is the left treating Sarah Palin as if she were running against Obama for the PRESIDENCY?
Could it be she has more experience than him?

Sarah was correct.
Posted by: Dogstar | Sep 8, 2008 8:33:32 PM
How can you be right on something that had not occurred yet?

Before we get too caught up in how much someone knows before starting a new job, is that the right expectation? Clinton was a Rhodes scholar but it seems to me that a president or VP will get plenty of counsel before having to make important decisions. It’s their character and integrity which will help guide them to make the right ones. Are we trying too hard to find a defining “potatoe” moment? Remember that knife cuts both ways, just ask Dan Rather.

I have read and have seen what she said and I am an independent voter. What she said is correct. Taxpayers are bailing out these two institutions ala the goverment take over. It has to do the with the FDIC regulations. So when these places go belly up and the government has to take over we have to pay for it ultimately as taxpayers. As far as the difference in days Saturday when she said this to Monday when it was announced for all of you people that have been living in a cave, it has been no secret that this matter was heading for government takeover. It has been expected for weeks and I am sure that with her proximity to McCain the last week it has been extensively discussed between the two about what was going to happen and how things were going to be handled. So my point is what is the point in this? She is right Freddie and Fannie had gotten two large and their failure will probably affect us as taxpayers for a good while.

Jake,
Gov. Sarah Palin meant they are NOW too large and expensive to the taxpayers due to the current bailout. But prior, as private companies they were too large in the first place. So, you asked, and YES I buy the McCain/Palin explanation. Plus, she looked beautiful when she said it!
McCain 2008/Hillary 2012!!!

o my point is what is the point in this? She is right Freddie and Fannie had gotten two large and their failure will probably affect us as taxpayers for a good while.
Posted by: Jon | Sep 8, 2008 8:39:25 PM
Once again for you people who can’t comprehend reading something. That is not what she said. She made the comment before the bailout was announced.

Bob – you are describing Palin. If she has so much “executive experience” then she should be at the top of the ticket. Face it – the Republicans now have what they accuse Obama of being – an empty suit.
What knowledge has her “executive experience” given her about Iraq? (She stated she hadn’t given much thought to it.) National security? World leaders? (She’s barely been out of the country.) Military leadership? (leadership of Alaskan National Guard is not much of a stretch.) How to handle the fiscal crisis? (Dealing with AK’s budget is not nearly as complicated as many other states.)
She is not ready to step into the presidency should an emergency occur.

Speaking of Wasillia (sp?), I saw that its budget is $30,000,000 for a town of a little over 7,000 people. I hope that is not their idea of keeping spending down.

1. Both campaigns were briefed about the bailouts.
2. That means she knew about the details of the bailouts.
3. They WERE NOT bailed out because they got too big and expensive for the taxpayer.
4. They were in trouble because there was no regulation and they made too many high risks loans that went bad.
5. The taxpayer had NOTHING to do with either company until YESTARDAY.
6. Now we do, to the tune of $200 Billion

isosure -
Thanks for pointing out my error.
FMAC does benefit from govt “benefits” which amounts to something in excess of $4m annually, which taxpayers pay. It is a ‘fluff’ benefit. They do not receive direct funds from the govt but they have always cost the taxpayer.

How can someone support a VP pick who hasn’t even been given an interview? Please wait for some unscripted moments plus a debate to make the claim look at least legitimate!
Actually Palin is a virtual celebrity image at this point, unknown for real. Come on, admit it. It’s really McBush and his republican brand that you idolize – but in secret.

sarah palin is uninformed half the time and is lying the other half. That’s what Keith just said and he sure is right.

The left and the media (basically interchangeable) attacked Palin so hard and with such obvious unfairness that any further attacks basically will continue to fuel her popularity. Their inability to be objective and show some restraint when Palin emerged has now made it very difficult for even legitimate issues about her to be raised – it will just have the net effect of making it look like they’re picking on her.

They have quizzed Palin and questioned more on her than all the many months put together about Obama.
Posted by: carolyn | Sep 8, 2008 8:47:46 PM
How can that be when she hasn’t spoken to the press as of yet?

It seems pretty obvious that the statement was really about cause and effect. It sounded like she intimated that the government bailout of FM and FM was BECAUSE they had gotten too big for the taxpayer.

Liberalsmear:
All the so-called liberals on this post are squealing that Palin doesn’t have enough experience”
No, we’re saying she is incredibly ignorant.

The left and the media (basically interchangeable) attacked Palin so hard and with such obvious unfairness that any further attacks basically will continue to fuel her popularity.
Posted by: K.F. Miller | Sep 8, 2008 8:48:37 PM
_______________________
Anyone who says that raising legitimate criticisms on Sarah Palin will continue to fuel her popularity is just trying to bluff and bully Americans in order to help Sarah Palin out of trouble and put her in the lie propaganda offensive.

Indy voter,
Did you also know that Rev Wright is a highly decorated Marine?? And then left that to join the Navy, who trained him as a cardiopulmonary technician? And that Rev. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson??

We are so easily distracted by the sideshow. It is because the Republicans have no answer to the real problems of the day So they obfuscate. McCain is no longer running an honest campaign. Just throw them some red meat – fundie christians will come running. Win at all costs. What a cruel joke for our children.

carolyn wrote:
No one can top Jeremiah Wright.
**********
You said it sister!! Rev Wright:
Marines
Navy cardiopulmonary technician that took care of President Lyndon Johnson
Recieved a letter of thanks on behalf of the United States of American for his work in the White house
Bachelors Degree
Two Master’s Degrees
PhD in Theology
Since 1972 has spent his life helping those less fortunate, the old, the poor, the homeless and uneducated.
You are right!! No one can top Rev Wright!! And before YOU impune the character of a man that you have never met once in your life, ask yourself what YOU have done to make this world a better place for others.
Because he has spent his entire life in service of others. This world needs MORE REv WRgihts!!!

Jo – why don’t you go take your race-mixing self-hatred to South Africa where you can get yourself raped by a big Zulu and have a nasty halfbreed baby like Obama?
Posted by: carolyn | Sep 8, 2008 9:06:45 PM
****************
Look people….llok at this digusting statement above. REad it over and over until you cant stand it anymore.
THIS is the reason we NEED change inthis country. It’s people like Carolyn that have running and ruining this country for the last 8 years!
ENOUGH!!!!

Sounds like total bull — or moose — to me. The woman clearly has no idea what these institutions are.

She doesn’t understand and McCain is not good on the economy. C’mon people, we can’t afford another 4 more years. Do you know how many lies her acceptance speech had. Do you know she kept the money for the bridge to nowhere. She thinks the Iraq war is a holy war (we’ll never get out of there). They all have their scandals, but this is more serious than the crap on this board.

She doesn’t understand and McCain is not good on the economy. C’mon people, we can’t afford another 4 more years. Do you know how many lies her acceptance speech had. Do you know she kept the money for the bridge to nowhere. She thinks the Iraq war is a holy war (we’ll never get out of there). They all have their scandals, but this is more serious than the crap on this board.

Really, people? If the right wants to continue to cast the media as sooo left (what’s new?), then I’d like to know where this left-leaning media has been for the last 7.5 YEARS!!! I wonder if a Swift Boat will ever come into play again? And no amount of political blather and politicing will sway my belief that McCain/Palin would do anything different than what the Bush admin has stripped, lied about, and plundered. Give me a break on the media — it’s been the fourth branch of the administration for almost a decade, so back off and stop your incessant bitching.

To Concerned in ATL and Baron and Obama-Yah-Wright:
Please stop blathering about Obama being a Muslim. Anyone who watches the interview with Stephanopoulus can clearly see that Obama was saying that John McCain has never implied that Obama is Muslim. (Note that John McCain has more integrity than you do). Sure, Obama’s meaning wouldn’t have been open to debate if he’d chosen to phrase it differently, such as: “McCain has never said anything to allege that I am of Muslim faith.” But then you dimwits would probably still just quote those last five words to suit your purposes.
Let’s debate some real facts instead of your fantasies, ok?

Get off the Muslim BS already !
So what if it is true and I am certainly not saying it is but so what ! He was only a child so maybe his father did register him in a Catholic school as a Muslim ? I was raised a Catholic because that is what my parents were but when I was old enough to question and decide for myself I decided on spirituality and no religion ! So technicly I am not a Catholic any more.
We know he certainly isn’t a Muslim now even if his father may have registered him that way as a child .My god people get a brain and use some reasoning instead of the fear the Bush administration has drummed into your head that makes you so affaid of everyone that’s different than you ! That fear is what keeps you voting for stupid presidents like Bush !
Palin can’t answer questions off the cuff because she has no experience and that is why they will only let Gibson interview her after she already knows the questions she will be asked and is tutored well before she gets to answer anything.
Two Republican presidents have put our country in trillions of dollars in debt and their both called Bush and his buddy McCain voted 90% of the time for all his policies giving him card blanc to distroy this Nation !
Take a look at the last Democratic president he left office giving a surplus .Wake the hell up for gods sake ,,no for America’s sake !

Jon wrote:
would make sure that we have a great emergency response infrastructure in place. That was it!! The person asked him, You wouldn’t hit back? He said, Oh yeah, we would find out who did it and hit them back. That tells me that he is so out of touch with what is required to be President. Sometimes you have to make snap decisions and hard decisions and he is not up to the job
***************
This may be too hard for you to understand, but IF we are attacked again, we DONT fly the planes out right then and there. We FIRST have to make sure we have the first responders in place to take care of the sick and wounded. THAT is THE FIRST thing we would have to do.
It’s the low info knuckle draggers that would say “Let’s hit ‘em back”.
Obama was spot on!!

Stop your whining about whether Palin knows anything about even the most basic fundamentals of the economy. Economic problems are purely psychological, and Palin has a PhD in psychology. Do your background checks MSM!

carolyn – Why is bringing up the question of Palin’s minister funny? Is it not a legitimate concern when she sits in church and listens to anti-semitic speech? She deserves the same treatment as Obama got with Reverend Wright.
But folks, let’s bottom line this. Put aside whether you agree with her religious views or not. Forget her being an attractive fresh face and a hockey mom.
Do what most employers would do. Look objectively at her educational and work background. Think about that. She may be an appealing woman but is there *anyone* who can say in all honesty she was the absolute BEST-QUALIFIED person that John McCain could’ve chosen? That she RIGHT NOW has the ability to step into the presidency at a moment’s notice? If your answer is yes, then why? And I don’t use the word “maverick” or the phrase “executive experience.”
I honestly want to know so that I can feel better about this choice should Senator McCain win in November.
Her experience vs. Obama’s can be argued, but don’t forget Obama was chosen by millions of voters. Sarah Palin was chosen only by a handful of people.

Only in Republican America would a black man with a law degree from Harvard, 12 years in politics, four years on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and manager of one of the most impressively flawless and forward thinking presidential campaigns ever not be ready for the presidency while a white female evangelical with 19 months in regional politics and a bachelors in journalism is considered “ready on day one”.
So true.

when you show me that you jump on biden and obama for their language, then i’ll give creedence to what you say about palin.
maybe you should do some homework – http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/8593.html – written 6 years ago.
yes, these entites DO cost us money. fammie mae alone $11B in 2001. financial-disclosure exemptions. quite the fiasco and no one did anything about it – until W.
try that one on for size, jack.

Tapper writes, “They’re private entities.
Though they’re private entities ultimately backed up by the taxpayers.”
I.e., they’re not really private entities.
Everyone needs to cool off and quit jumping over every word someone says in this race – and that includes both sides. Of course, if you’re just looking for an excuse to spew your own negative garbage all over the environment, well, who can stop you?

I will tell you why Mccain has taken the lead, you guys are crazy, you don’t care about your own body, your jobs, heath care, birth control, wage increase etc. Should I go on, no I’m not going to waste my time with you guys, I know why half of you are going to vote McPain, you don’t give a rats behind about your own self or the upcoming generation . Think about our children and grand children, when Mcshame and Mcgive up my right to choose, get into office and when all the jobs get ship away, no health care, social sercurity, you name it, you got it. Hell we will all be living under that damn bridge to nowhere.

Sarah Palin is RIGHT, fannie & freddie is costing txpayer’s too much money. We could be on the hook for $500 billion.

Yep, Fannie Mae and Freddic Mac (the first letter of each of their acronyms reflect that both started out as a Federal government creation) are about as “private” an entity as the U.S. Post Office. Where are the stockholders? The Board of Directors”?
Hopefully one of the things McCain will clean up in Washington is this unholy alliance between Harvard graduates, Goldman Sachs and the federal government officials that “govern” our economy. Every problem is solved by the taxpayer paying for someone else’s mistakes. And you don’t have to be an Alaskan to know that.
There is money to be made by being “reasonable”. You don’t have to be a Chicago “machine politics” graduate with a diploma from Harvard and a pair of pants with some really big pockets to line, to know that.
Palin had it right and wants to cut off the hand stuck in the taxpayer’s pocket. Obama has his hand out and doesn’t want any hands cut off before he gets his share.

Palin doesn’t have a clue. Remember McCain saying last week that Palin was going to do 60 events in thirty days? Now’s that’s been scrapped and they’re joined at the hip. If she’s ready to be VP, why can’t she campaign on her own? Why can’t she talk to a reputable news outlet and answer questions without being prepped? Why must she be sheltered and led around by handlers? WHAT IS THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN AFRAID OF? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?

ABC News main page article on bail out. . . . opening paragraph:
“The federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will likely lower the cost of a mortgage for buyers with good credit, but it will also likely stick U.S. taxpayers with a bill in the tens of billions of dollars, analysts have concluded.”
Isn’t that exactly what she said? Is this a gaffe on ABC, or financial analysts?

padhorn: We are in desperate need to nitpick Palin – if not now,when? Why is she immune to scrutiny? Because she was picked by John McCain? Give me a break!

For years we have had a trade deficit with China. Today that deficit amounts to about one billion dollars per day. We buy more Chinese goods than they buy US goods. So about one billion of our dollars go to China per day. Coincidentally China regularly buys bonds in the amount of our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. In effect,the Chinese government finances those mortgages. The US government ensures the bonds. So yes, the taxpayers are and have been all along liable for the amount of the face value plus interest earned on the bonds issued to China that finance Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. It’s definitely in the taxpayer’s interest to downsize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and regulate their activities more closely.

does anyone know why none of the GOP or DEM ticket has replied to the SMARTVOTE.ORG political courage test when both Obama & McCain have replied in the past????? please take a look…i want those answers from the horses mouth easily at a glance in one place….please start an e-mail campaign anyone who really wants to only decide on the issues…MAKE THEM ANSWER BEFORE WE VOTE!!!!
A govt by the people for the people is supposed to be about a carried vote based on the consensus of the constituancy ….NOT A VOTE FOR ONE ELECTION AND WE TRUST THEIR CONSCIENCE!!!!!!

Palin’s interview by Charles Gibson is going to be nothing more than a love-fest. Don’t expect an interview even approaching anything that is going to be revealing – any hard-hitting questions. Gibson is only going to ask questions that have been pre-approved by the McCain camp.. Gibson was the only one who was given an interview of McCain during the primary. I think McCain just loved it.

Looks like CNN is doing the job McCain failed to do. They are starting to vet Palin. They have secured a videotape of her speaking in support of the Bridge to Nowhere. Now the games have begun and there will be real questions for he Charlie Gibson interview that will overshadow the grand scape of the Alaska wilderness that will serve as a pictoral backdrop to the questioning. We all know this woman has lied on several occassions. I am curious as to see how many lies will tip her celebrity status into the political toilet.

“Katrina, four dollar gas, a trillion dollar war, rising unemployment, deregulated housing market, global warming…no more.”
Greatest quote from another blog posting!

Obama is showing himself to have feet of clay and so the Dems fearfully lie in wait to Quayle-ize Gov. Palin. I doubt that Palin will misspeak near as bad as “57 states” or “Kentucky not near Illiois” or “one Jerusalem, two Jerusalems”.

disambiguates
If you watched Keith Olbermann interview Obama Monday night you would have heard exactly what happened and how he proposes to fix it.

can anyone really say obama is the best the choice the dems could have made is he the most expeianced?i should think not hillary was their best one but palosi and her crew didnt pick her lol every ? you have about sarah ask it about obama you will see shes the best choice on both tickets

hey brian-k
she doesnt need to know anything other than she sent her son there to serve. How many people who actually voted to let G.W. do what he wanted to (aka abdicated their constitutional duty to declare war or not)
actually bet their blood on it?
Im not for her but, i could have gone and chose NOT TO GO ….she clearly knows more than I do if its ok to send American boys there no?

libratine—very true the only people taht are better off with the republican policies is the rich and very rich, i know of no one that is working class or poor taht is better off .

Comeon you guys – You are the one ones faking it- surely you don’t understand Palin cause she is the one that understands Fannie & Freddie get a book!!

This is one of the 18 million cracks that we’re starting to see..only it’s not in the “glass ceiling”..it’s in the facade the Regressive Party has tried to build around Ms. Palin! As time goes by, we’ll quickly begin to see her without the rose-colored glasses the McBush campaign has handed out..and take note that she’s about as far right as you can be, with the worst that could exemplify..a separatist, the list of books she tried to have banned included Huckleberry Fin and My Friend Flicka, not to mention about every literary classic there is! Sick, sick!!
Shades of Fahrenheit 451, for crying out loud! Three cheers for the librarian who stood up to Caribou Barbie! As a patriotic American woman, I acknowledge her the right to believe as she wishes..but I’ll damn sure never let the likes of her impose their grotesque creed upon me or mine! She’s the living definition of a fanatic, and in spite of the campaign and the party’s attempts to closet this stuff (they’re really good at closeting things..and people), it will quickly work its way out.
For that element of our population that agrees with her..I trust we’ll see you all emigrating to Alaska after Obama’s Nov 4 election. Suits me fine..for as you know, if you can’t be part of the solution in this world..then you’re part of the problem. We’ll wave from the border as you go. As to her mom voting for Obama..just desserts, when you consider that Ernestine (snort) Palin refused to endorse or vote for her step-mother-in-law when she ran for mayor..because she’s pro-choice.

She is soo intelligent and what she don’t know now she will learn very fast. She is an idealist true but has her heart in the country and not her own ambitist place in history -not yet nyhow-Obama just wants to make history. and taking advantage of Americans gullibility to make it in the books. Not now- too much at stake.

She is so perfect you have to make up lies and misconstrue the truth.because there is nothing real that is negative out there to charge her with. You guys shoud sit back and see how you sound

Lier, Lie a minute form Palin and McCain.

After all, It was FEDERAL TAXPAYERS MONEY. And I, as a taxpayer, want to know where my money went.

wake up America
the same way we were lied to about weapons of mass destruction, this is the same way we are being lied to by the Bush McCain campaign saying they are for change. Eight years is enough. McCain does not know about the economy. he does not get it. He voted with Bush 90% of the time. Why would you risk 4 more years. Wake up America, Vote Obama/Biden

The “Bridge To Nowhere” is Obama’s down fall because Alaskans and the Congress &Senate know the truth and Sarah is right. She did support it until she learned the rest of the story and had the guts to admit she made a mistake and corrected it.

McCain’s VP pick shows who’s really willing to lose a war to win an election.

Wow, next she may mispell a popular vegetable and make the real headlines. Why did we not hear about the interview with Bama on Fox? When asked why Bush has collected more revenue through tax cut than Clinton Obama said….now listen carefully….he said…. ready…”Thats because the economy has grown so much”, now you bama kool aide drinkers explain that!! And here has has been trying to make us believe we are in the great depression!!

Di got it right: Sarah Palin simply doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It appears that if we elect McCain, we’ll have a president who admits he knows hardly anything about economics, and a VP who knows even less. Way to go. U-S-A.

Stupid is as stupid says…she’s a flake and will be old news next week. Another rightwing whack job who can spew partisan hatred but has no clue what goes on in normal peoples lives.

McCain could have picked Tom Ridge, former governor and former Secretary of Homeland Security. Instead he picks Palin. That’s just shameful and gives a clear shapshot into the soul of a mud sucking politician who will say or do anything to get elected.

The problem with all of this is we just don’t know what she was trying to say and there’s no way of finding out as she doesn’t take questions at her public gatherings. Sarah – do a press conference or two for goodness sake! You have a degree in journalism – what’s the problem? Prove you’re ready. If not, the doubts will linger.

No gaffe, just an attempt at “gotcha” journalism.
Why? Because the claim is based on the flawed observation:
“Too expensive to the taxpayers?”
They’re private entities.
No, they are not.
They are government sponsored entities, something entirely different.
Simply put it means the taxpayers are the sponsor of these entities and so ultimately liable.
Palin’s statement in fact shows an astute understanding of the underlying reality.

Simple way to fix this for Palin:
Get out and start doing interviews. As much as her voice and manner are like nails on a chalkboard to me..and I would be happy if I never heard her mean, snide tone ever again…she’s got to get out and do interviews. I’d love it if she got on Oprah, but I would feel bad for Oprah having to listen to Sarah for an hour…She is a small town mayor, a small state governor, and while she may be somewhat accomplished in local politics, she is in no way ready to be President. Wake UP. America is going down the tubes, can you please put down your partisan “goggles” and see her for what she really is? A Joke.
We need real leadership, and we need it FAST. Haven’t the past 8 years been enough punishment?
Vote with your brains, not your GOP Hats. Please.

1. I AM BETTER OFF NOW THAT I WAS 8 YEARS AGO, PAID OFF MY CAR, REDUCED MY CREDIT CARDS, AND REDUCED THE MORTGAGE BALANCE ON A HOUSE I ACTUALLY PUT A DOWN PAYMENT ON , NOT LIKE THE HEAD IN THE SAND POORLY QUALIFIED 0 DOWN PEOPLE NOW LOSING THEIR HOMES. I AM ONE OF THE 98% OR HOMEOWNERS PAYING THEIR MORTGAGES ON TIME.
AS FAR AS JOBS GOING OUT OF THE COUNTRY,
WE
ALL LIKE TO SHOP AT TARGET INSTEAD OF BLOOMINGDALES!

Lab, no matter how the Obamabots spin it……Palin still remains far more qualified and experience than Obama. Ignoring this is only annoying more and more women voters.

Fox news showed a whole lot of Palin’s old comments and interviews tonight…they showed one where she and her husband were sitting around their modest kitchen table discussing how they meet and what they believed and such…….the one thing that came flying across loud and clear…is that she is so normal and down to earth. She is actually a real person….and this is going to score big with indies.

She’s a know nothing idiot.
Certified.

Are you SURE that’s not just TINA FEY, and ol’ Johnny Mac is playing a practical joke on America????

our town just held a special census. we are now at a whopping 5,692 citizens. we have a great mayor, a real reformer. he helped us get a nice new road and a park and a sports complex just like sarah palin did for her town. well with one exception…were finished paying it off. anywho, i was wondering who we call in the McCain camp for ol’ mayor terry some kind of cabinet position. i mean if that’s all it takes.

The comment by Ms. Palin was – quite obviously – in regards to the fact that it us taxpayers who are being expected to buy out Fannie May and Freddie Mac (along with all of the folk who foolishly took out a mortgage under terms which guaranteed they would not be able to repay it. Quite frankly, those of us who actually pay the taxes are sick and tired of having to come to the aid of those are too lazy or too incompetent to manage their money effectively.
Unfortunately, bailing out both companies cannot be avoided due to the domino effect: if these companies are allowed to fail (as they rightfully should), other industries will be adversely and catastrophically affected. As such, as much as we hate bailing these companies out, there is no choice but to do so in order to protect the nation’s economy as a whole.
That does not mean that the incompetent personnel within these companies will be allowed to get away scot free. To the contrary, under the plan forwarded, those personnel will be out of their jobs and out of their severance pay and investments. This is a critical step, as it allows the incompetence which led to this mess to be replaced with personnel who will actually do the jobs properly.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin are young and inexperienced. No job can prepare a person to be president, but how Obama and Palin rose to their positions shows their character.
Challenging incumbents can be a career-ender, but Palin blew the whistle on corruption in her party, and voters made her the youngest governor in Alaska’s history.
Obama got his start in Chicago, where politics are extremely liberal and who you know is everything. He launched his career in the home of former terrorist Bill Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground organization, which bombed the U.S. Capital. He sat in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church for nearly 20 years and said nothing. Obama befriended political radicals to launch his political career. Only after entering national politics did he criticize Ayers and Wright.
The contrast between Palin and Obama is striking. Palin rocked the boat of her own party, evidence of courage and a solid moral foundation. Obama navigated the political waters of Chicago without a ripple; his moral compass points to the White House via the path of least resistance.
Tom

Frank; frankly you took up so much space trying to defend the shocker-mom and the old fell-low, that you overlooked the fact that to woo you self-centered Reps. McPain made a last minute, desperation choice,that like his failure at most everything he has ever been involved in, was a poor choice for VP but you haters are eating it up. change in D.C. is what we need.

Hey guys stop blaming others for your mistakes. your repubs were on power for 8years and having both chambers for 7 years you did nothing. Now you want to blame the clintons who left trillions $%surplus for you. You eat it all up shame on you.

Yes, too expensive for us taxpayers. Instead of holding them accountable for their mistakes, as well as holding the idiots who overspent on their homes accountable, the taxpayer has to bail them out. A federal takeover is NOT what I want to see. At least if it is going to happen, I want to see McCain/Palin replace who is administering it with someone accountable.
Spin, spin, spin here, trying to turn this into a gaffe.

How come this is not covered by the media about Mr. Obama?
The involvement of convicted felon Tony Resko in the purchase of Obama’s$1,300,000 home.
His despicable association with his friend William Ayers, who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for over 10 terrorist attacks.
The fact that at age 25, Obama was backed by a radical Muslim activist close to the Saudi royal family when he applied to Harvard Law School.

Sarah Palin is at the point where Barack Obama was in the beginning of his campaign although I believe she will get up to speed much quicker. The problem here is that neither she nor Barack are qualified to be either President or Vice President.
Hillary Clinton was qualified due to her self study and focused absorption of everything she could hear see or read because her was determined to be President. And now due to the Media’s biased coverage of this election and glorification of Barack Obama we are now in a mess with two disastrous tickets.
And let’s not forget the “gaff” or lie when Barack said that the Banking Committee was his committee when he was in Israel – when in fact he wasn’t even on the committee.

There must be a hell of a reason why mcCain/palin selected ABC news and Gibson for their firs interview, i have a gut felling that some type of deal was cut either by abc or gibson. i hope i am wrong, but gibson needs to be as tough on her as he was on obama, but i look for some very cookie like question that an idiot could answer

Palin does not know Fannie and Freddie from Disneyworld, but she eats Mooseburgers and was runner up in a beauty pageant which qualified her for mayor in Alaska. She doesn’t know anything about Foreign Policy, but she knows how to fire someone when they do not do what she says. She will reverse Ro v Wade, but at least her 17 year old daughter had the right to choose. Overnight she became an unwed teen to an engaged teen with no ring. She is ready to be president, she played basketball, she lied about the bridge to Nowhere and lying is key to McCains whole campaign. Lie and repeat the lie until America believes it. NOT THIS TIME !!!!

OMG! Not only do we have John McCain who admitted to the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board that he doesn’t really understand our economy but he picks a vp running mate who proves that she probably knows even less than he does. Palin’s statement,….. “The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”…., shows us just how uninformed she is. Even a novice investor in the stock market knows better than to make an irresponsible statement like that. Why or why didn’t McCain pick Romney? At least everyone knew that Romney understands our economy.

Information like this needs to be on the nightly news. People need to understand they aren’t voting for someone to pal around with. She could potentially end up running this country. I for one would like that to be someone with understanding of the economy and world affairs.

As a woman, this is so insulting. The Republicans are prancing her around, (just don’t talk!) The only thing we get to see is her convention speech because her knowledge of the national and international issues that will make a difference as to whether Americans keep their homes, their jobs, their savings, their grandchildren’s lives, is completely missing from her skill set. John McCain, you are displaying the most disgusting sexism I have seen in many years. Baby, I’ve come a LONG WAY and you won’t use me!

Just remember that the race will be decided by a handful of battleground states with people who do not have much of an education. So it won’t matter if Palin is educated in financial, international and other important matters or not. As long as she knows how to say her lines, she will do fine with those idiotic voters. Just expect at least four more years of Bush like policies and worse. This nation is going to be changed beyond recognition in eight years by the Christian fundamentalists. Bear no doubt.
McBUSH/PALIN 08
Change We Will be Sorry.

She also has refused to turn over 1100 emails in the ongoing Troopergate investigation which seems to be right out of the Bush and Rove playbook. At least they weren’t lost.

Let’s remember that Palin is a governor of a state with a population of only 670,000 people. Of those, only 85% speak English.
This means that there are thousands of mayors across the United States with much more power and responsibility than the governor of Alaska, a tiny state in terms of population.
Palin’s ignorance pn economic, financial, national, world matters, etc. does not surprise me. A hillbilly VP who could turn into president, in the likely event McBush dies or gets sick (quite possible due to his old age), is just what we needed to become a 2nd rate nation.
McCain / Palin 08
The politics of hell.

This nation is going to be changed beyond recognition in eight years by the Christian fundamentalists. Bear no doubt.
…. Exactly! I just don’t want to hear women complain in 2-3 years that they no longer have the right to choose regarding pregnancy. If abstinance-only didn’t work in Palin’s house what makes her think it will work everywhere else?

If a church believes a) homosexuality is a sin, b) God rescues sinners, and c) God answers prayer, why the feigned outrage when people pray for God to change homosexuals? Everyone remembers the Second Amendment, protecting the free exercise of religion. Religion is no johnny-come-lately on the world stage. If homosexuality is making new bids for social normalcy, it is bogus to pretend to be shocked that churches pray for their deliverance. Churches have been praying this prayer for almost 2000 years! Let’s not raise bigoted slander against Christians when they actually practice what they believe. If they didn’t pray for homosexuals, they would get slammed for being hypocrites. (Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.) Ignorance -> fear -> bigotry. Expand your minds, people.

John McCain is wrong to ask us to put our trust in a Vice President that has not been tested on a national level just bucause of her social positions. He lost my vote!!!

In response to Tom Genin – your post could probably be misinterpreted by some as stating that the whole Palin/librarian issue was fake. So I would like to emphasize that in fact, if you read both Snopes and the FACTCHECK websites you will see that the ONLY thing they have debunked is one email with a list of specific books that she supposedly wanted to ban – but both sites still mention that the conversations about removing books DID occur and that the librarian was fired by Palin and rehired the next day – FACTCHECK claims this was just a “loyalty” check and not specifically about the books, but other major sources state the only reason the librarian was rehired was because the community went to bat for her. Personally, I don’t care WHICH books she supposedly wanted gone, I care that she was trying to (or trying to find out if she could – which says just as much) ban any books from the library to begin with.

I see many of the comments here reveal a complete misunderstanding of what a GSE (a “government sponsored entity”) is. They are NOT public entities, in any sense. They are not backed by taxpayer funds. The nature of the government’s sponsorship is limited to one very specific benefit conferred upon Fannie and Freddie: they are granted lower capital requirements than the government would otherwise require of a similarly situated financial institution. This is a benefit to Fannie and Freddie, but one that costs the taxpayers ZERO dollars.
Furthermore, to insist (as many here have) that the government’s decision to “bail out” Fannie and Freddie somehow means they were public entities, that completely nonsensical. Is Chrysler a public entity? The government bailed out Chrysler.
Palin’s comments revealed a stunning ignorance of the operations of Fannie and Freddie, and an ignorance of the housing market that is difficult to believe in a candidate for high office.

What kind of support do the GSEs receive from Government?
The major support consists of the credit lines with the US Treasury. This, along with their histories — both were public institutions before they became privately owned — mark them as having a special claim for Government assistance in the event they ever get into financial trouble. As a result, investors consider the notes they issue and the mortgage securities they guarantee almost as good as securities issued by the Federal Government itself.
As a taxpayer, on the other hand, you have a cause for concern. The low borrowing costs of the GSEs is based on implicit Government backing for their $3+ trillion of debt and guarantees. When the GSEs have a financial disaster, the Government has to bail them out, and you and I are on the hook for the cost.

I’m still trying to figure out how what she said was wrong. The government IS bailing them out, and what is the governments primary revenue source?. . . . taxpayers. The other option is to print more money which devalutes the dollar and still costs us. So let me ask. . . . . . . Exactly what is there about this that isn’t “too expensive to the taxpayers”??

Palin informed us at the GOP convention that “There is only one man in this
election who has ever really fought for you … in places where winning means
survival and defeat means death … and that man is John McCain..”. If memory serves, 4 years ago the only candidate who actually fought for us was John
Kerry and he was condemned for it. Cheney was too busy and W was safely tucked away in the Air National Guard (when he actually decided to show up). Will Americans ever see through this hypocrisy?

Her talking points weren’t detailed enough this week.

I would guess she was talking about the future of them; ie. where do we go from here. At this juncture they are too expensive and too large for taxpayers to sustain. So I think she was setting tings to answer: what will the next Admin. do?

I would guess she was talking about the future of them; ie. where do we go from here. At this juncture they are too expensive and too large for taxpayers to sustain. So I think she was setting things up to answer: what will the next Admin. do?

Fannie and Freddie were never private entities. Fannie is a relic of the New Deal and Freddie was chartered by Congress in 1970. When Fannie was partially privatized, and since Freddie’s inception, both entities have benefited from an implicit federal guarantee of their outstanding obligations. If they were just ‘private entities’ as Tapper claims, they never would have been able to establish a massive duopoly in the U.S. mortgage market. Only because of their ‘government sponsored entity’ status were they able to lower their borrowing costs below what real ‘private entities’ had to pay.

Confusion about economic policy is a central tenet of the McCain campaign – she was just being a supportive VP nominee.
Somebody tell me, when did asking a hockey mom to run the world’s most powerful nation become a good idea?

Let’s ask if we can see her college transcripts and if she took any courses in economics and what her grades were, For that matter, how about McCain’s.

Of course she muffed it. She was chosen because of her extreme right wing religious nutcase orientation, not because she is smart or intelligent (which she is not). Dan Quayle #2 in the making.

Palin has no idea what is going on in the real world. She’s been out on the frontier for too long. She doesn’t realize that we’re bailing out Fannie and Freddie. Who knows what she’s thinking, ala Dan Quayle. As for the bailout, it wouldn’t be necessary if not for the deregulation imposed by the Republicans (Phil Gramm, McCains economic advisor).

Palin’s comments about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show a complete lack of understanding of the mortgage markets of the United States. Yes, Americans should care about economic literacy of their leaders. If this isn’t a valid criticism of Palin I don’t know what is.

Palin is an awful strange character. She attends a church that speaks in tongues, believes Jews are being punished via terrorism, and that all gays can be turned straight. Not the mainstream.

“You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do,” said 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.”

Ahem….this from the Heritage Foundation, a more reliable source on economic history…
Fannie and Freddie were never private entities. Fannie is a relic of the New Deal and Freddie was chartered by Congress in 1970. When Fannie was partially privatized, and since Freddie’s inception, both entities have benefited from an implicit federal guarantee of their outstanding obligations. If they were just ‘private entities’ as Tapper claims, they never would have been able to establish a massive duopoly in the U.S. mortgage market. Only because of their ‘government sponsored entity’ status were they able to lower their borrowing costs below what real ‘private entities’ had to pay.
So sorry to break it to you sir. But the ONLY one confused on this issue is you. Gov. Palin was RIGHT. Thank you for once again contributing to the media’s rush to judge Palin before actually ascertaining FACTS.

Yeah, that Fannie Mae thing Palin said was just devastatingly stupid. No wonder they won’t let her talk. The one time she does, she says something like that? Cripes, does “W” have a twin?

Jake -
Palin is right that they are too expensive NOW and IN THE PAST.
Despite the fact that they are “private” we all know they are actually Government Chartered.
There has always been an implicit Federal Backing. Because of this, the risk that Fannie and Freddie represent raise the borrowing cost of the Federal Government.
$5 Trillion in shaky liabilities that you are implicitly on the hook for will mean something in Bond Markets.
With $8 Trillion in Financed Government Debt, a few basis points of risk premium because of exposure to Fannie and Freddie costs the taxpayers BILLIONS in additional borrowing costs.
Palin was correct either way. The neophytes who do not understand the Bond Markets would never get this fact…
Now you know.

Hey; does anyone remember the Republican( Taxpayers Bill of Rights) and do’nt say it was hijacked by the Dems because they had a Republican President and a Republican controled both the Senate and the Congress.

HELLO?! Although I know my way around, I am no economic expert but I could see there was something wrong (the water was receding before the tsunami, I guess.). When I would bring this up to people they would tell me to enjoy the ride, how prices in Florida were just too low for too long. I thought maybe I was worrying for nothing but I guess that nagging doubt was right after all. Better to listen to your gut then a expert who’s first solution is to buy more of the toxic debt nobody wants.
People were buying way over their head. Instead of a starter home, the young couple wanted the big house with a pool. It was hard NOT to sell a house. They got questionable loans & didn’t seem to care about the penalties even after explained to them. But how can the same exact model house be going up $10,000 a month with no sign of hitting the brakes? It was a literal run away train. The builders were giddy buying up lots & completely filling in blocks of vacant land within weeks (I still have many vacant, never occupied homes around my home for 15 years with tall grass). Where were the jobs? All the out of town agents have since moved on to fertile ground. They come, conquer & leave their footprints with no consequences. What about the people who actually live here? With all the experts we hire, nobody can COUNT the number of building permits & figure in how much more or less roads, services, drainage, schools, etc. are going to be needed for this growth. These ivy league school grads are full of stale air instead of any new ideas.
Our next President should have a YEARLY review with objectives & consequences, like we all have. RESUMES do matter but only the accomplishes count. Everyone can ask, “What have you done for me lately?” It’s about time the People of this great country get to say, “YOUR FIRED!” Let’s push our agenda…not theirs.

Hi all… I am new to baynet too.Of course, I quit reading and posting on the some blogs & forums. I won’t go into details becuase I am sure most of you know why…
it will take a little time to get use to this interface, but I think I can manage…