Younger voters are notoriously disinterested in the political process. But an analysis of student loan lobbying suggests that major players in the political process are interested in them.
Continue readingRegistered lobbyists are mostly compliant – but what about the unregistered ones?
A new report has been released reviewing how well lobbyists follow disclosure rules. According to the report, registered lobbyists aren't that bad. What it misses completely, of course, is all of the non-lobbyist lobbyists out there.
Continue readingMel Watt’s ties to the banking industry
(CORRECTION: This post has been updated to eliminate the name of the American Bankers' Association's Michael Hunter, incorrectly identified in earlier versions as an alumnus of Watt's office. Hunter worked for former Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla.)
Rep. Mel Watt, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurers of most of the country's mortgages, is getting strong support from his party's liberal wing despite close ties to an industry with a big stake in how -- or if -- the controversial quasi-government entities are wound down.
The North Carolina ...
Bernanke is positive about economy, despite poor markets
The Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, said he believes the economy will continue to grow this year despite high unemployment rates, weak job growth and an “exceptionally weak housing sector”.
In the Fed's Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress, Bernanke highlighted the positive direction the economy has taken citing as evidence the real GDP's return to where it was before the financial crisis occurred.
In today’s hearing conducted by the Senate Banking Committee, the focus seemed to be on the Fed’s decision to buy securities issued by the Department of Treasury and the effectiveness of that ...
Continue readingProposed Policies To End Fannie, Freddie Stem From Lobbying Prohibition
This week the Obama administration released three different plans to end or vastly shrink the role of the government in... View Article
Continue readingFollowing Dirty Money
I like the concept behind what appears to be a new Washington Examiner feature called "Dirty Money" (you can see the latest installment here; I can't seem to find a page where previous installments are archived). I'm not a hundred percent certain though of their methodology of determining why certain contributions are dirty--if it's merely a company or organization that had employees or members who've committed crimes (embezzlement is one listed), that doesn't necessarily seem to taint the organization's donations. I think a little more context is needed to determine whether the employees were ...
Continue readingFeds: Freddie Mac should hide info from SEC
Yesterday, we learned from the Chicago Tribune that Freddie Mac documents are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act because they contain or might compromise commercial information--that is, the proprietary insider information of a private company. Today, in the Washington Post, we learn that that private company was pressured to withhold negative information it was obligated to disclose under SEC rules. It seems that following government policy will adversely affect its bottom line, and the firm wanted to tell its remaining shareholders that.
Federal officials who took over Freddie Mac stopped short of nationalizing the company, leaving it partly ...Continue reading
Freddie Mac records exempt from FOIA
Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac of the Chicago Tribune report that, while researching what went at Freddie Mac during the period White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel served on the board of directors of Freddie Mac, they were unable to get minutes of board meetings and other information:
The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director. The documents, obtained by Falcon for his investigation, were "commercial information" exempt from disclosure, according to a lawyer for the Federal Housing Finance ...Continue reading
Daily Outrage: How Fannie and Freddie Bought Congress
If you want your daily rage inducing news piece, this Associated Press investigation into Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should... View Article
Continue readingIn Broad Daylight: Freddie’s Lobbying
Just like on Elm Street, Freddie killed bills in Congress. The Ted Stevens trial is set to wrap up today... View Article
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