This is largely gratuitous, but while tooling around Fannie Mae's Web site, I came across their Employee Code of Conduct, revised in 2007. The opening includes this passage:
But in many situations the right course of action is not always obvious. So here are some questions that we can ask ourselves to help us navigate the shades of gray:
The first shade of gray?
Is the action legal?
In fairness, the preceding sentence tells employees, "Perhaps most importantly, our Code not only requires us to comply with the law, but it challenges us to promote ethical conduct in all ...
Continue readingFinancial Bailout: K Street hurting too?
The Hill reports that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dissolving their formidable lobbying operations (when the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was investigating their shady accounting practices, Fannie Mae was spending $8 million a year on lobbyists, some of whom were working with Congress to derail the investigation).
The Hill reports,
When the two companies were taken over by the government, they said they would end lobbying practices that had made them a powerful force in Washington.Still, the lost contracts could hit K Street hard.
Overall, 37 outside firms filed second-quarter reports for Fannie and Freddie, according ...
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Financial Bailout: Correlation in contributions and votes in House
Urge Congress to Read the Bill First, Part 2
The unexpected failure of the bailout proposal has given lawmakers and citizens a second chance to understand the details of... View Article
Continue readingFinancial Bailout: Fannie Mae announces subpoena
Fannie Mae announced <a href="http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/310522/000129993308004533/0001299933-08-004533.txt">today</a> that it's gotten more subpoenas from the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York:
<blockquote>On September 26, 2008, Fannie Mae received notice of ongoing federal government investigations and inquiries into Fannie Mae by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") regarding certain accounting, disclosure and corporate governance matters. In connection with those investigations and inquiries, Fannie Mae received a Grand Jury subpoena ...
Continue readingFinancial Bailout: Citigroup purchasing Wachovia
Just curious: Is Citigroup, in purchasing Wachovia and absorbing up to $42 billion in losses, making a good investment? Are they looking at Wachovia's red ink, or is there estimation of the bank's worth based on the notion that its balance sheet will soon be brought into the black co
Continue readingUrge Congress to Read the Bill First
Today, the Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to exercise restraint, and give Members and the public sufficient time to... View Article
Continue readingOn Bailout Transparency
Congress took a real step today toward legislative transparency, proactively posting the proposed bailout legislation in public, online, in advance... View Article
Continue readingFinancial Bailout: Comparison of plans
Mark Tapscott of the D.C. Examiner posts a comparison of what was in the original plan submitted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and what congressional negotiators have arrived at now.
It will be interesting to see both the final language and the conference report. I wonder if the bill will end up including things like taxpayer funding for peanut warehouses to bring reluctant members on board.
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Financial Bailout: A look at the House GOP negotiators
Continuing the theme of last night's post (and of several prior posts -- just scroll down), we're taking a look at some of the key players in the financial bailout negotiations, looking at their career contributions from and personal interest in the industry. Thanks to Open Secrets, the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, all this information is easily accessible online.
Over the course of his political career, minority leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has raised $2,933,009 from political action committees, employees and their immediate family members of organizations in the finance, insurance and real estate ...
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