Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin told Colorado voters that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) have "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers."
Oops. The reality is that, as privately-held companies, Fannie and Freddie took no money from the federal government and it is only now that they will become a liability for taxpayers. The Huffington Post reports that "The major concern about Palin's position on the ticket is that she lacks the economic and foreign policy wherewithal to serve as vice president. This certainly doesn't help on that front. At the same time, the remark went almost entirely unnoticed over the weekend and discussions on the developments of the housing market can be difficult to process for even the most attuned voter."
When Palin made the remark, the audience cheered and McCain clapped -- meaning that neither the Republican Presidential candidate nor the Vice Presidential candidate, or even their supporters, understand the roles of Fannie and Freddie. More troubling, McCain told The Boston Globe last year that "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," and, here's the real kicker, said that he would look for someone who was a true economics expert in his VP pick.
Apparently that didn't happen, and voters will have to decide whether they want to vote for a ticket that doesn't have two supply curves to rub together.
Palin doesn't know much about Fannie and Freddie
Posted Sep 9th 2008 7:00AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Politics
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-09-2008 @ 7:49AM
Alex said...
Shouldn't you be more concerned that evidently Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron didn't know how to operate Fannie and Freddie than whether or not Palin knows how every single business in the U.S. runs?
Also, last I checked they are getting ready to become "too expensive" to the tax payers.
9-09-2008 @ 7:55AM
DCC said...
You are full of crap. Get off your high horse.
9-09-2008 @ 8:20AM
termite said...
The fedral reserve took over both lenders on wed sept.3. So Sara Palin's statment over the weekend was correct. Zac, if you would stop and think once in a while, you would know that there has be talk in Wasington about taxpayers having to bailout housing lenders since the before the Brs/strn bailout. The cost to the taxpayers has been growing for quite sometime. if the F/R would have taken coserventorship months ago it might have saved taxpayers a couple of 100 million dollars.
9-09-2008 @ 8:20AM
quag said...
Great story. I hope the mainstream press picks up on gaffes like this.
Palin has been presented to voters as "ready to lead on day one" so any boneheaded comment she makes is fair game.
And let's not forget... she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it.
9-09-2008 @ 9:31AM
Marc said...
We are American voters. We don't care much about your high falutin' economics and such. If we pray hard enough it will all work out and if it doesn't it was God's will, not that we be a bunch a dummies. We are simple, small-town, folk; we're not thinkers, we're doers of things that tellers tell us to do!
9-09-2008 @ 10:15AM
Frank R said...
Palin dosn't know much about anything.
http://www.democrats.sc/blog/2008/09/03/top-10-reasons-why-sarah-palin-is-unfit-to-lead-our-nation/
9-09-2008 @ 2:26PM
Henry Blankett said...
What was even more ridiculous is that McCain APPLAUDED Palin's complete ignorance (as did the crowd). It's like applauding someone who says that Germany is located in North America.
Not so much a "gaffe" as Palin simply has no idea what she's talking about. This nation really is in deep trouble if there are people willing to vote these two into the highest offices of the land.
9-09-2008 @ 10:58PM
Chris K. said...
From a 1996 CBO report (http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=13&type=0&sequence=3):
"Each year taxpayers provide the GSEs with the benefits of enhanced credit standing."
and
"Government-sponsored enterprises are costly to the government and taxpayers in that they receive a benefit for which others would pay a substantial sum."
Those costs were (theoretically) outweighed by the benefit to the country of the services they provided, and that is why they were GSE's to begin with. However, the benefits are no longer worth the cost, hence the conservatorship.
Perhaps Sarah Palin understood that better than you, Zac.
9-25-2008 @ 4:39PM
Jim Baptist said...
Maybe just maybe palin is on to something,called waste.She sure got rid of that wasteful jet real quick. maybe in office we"llsee some of the same. at least she had the guts to do it. She has my vote