Tweedledee and Tweedledum

The foxes are watching over the hen house. Good gracious.

Can you believe that Barney Frank (D.Ma.) and Chris Dodd (D.Conn.) are the two authors of the recently House passed Financial Reform Bill? Having these two in charge of financial reform in this country is like having the disgraced John Edwards in charge of Marriage Encounter International.

These two slippery scoundrels and Chairs of House and Senate Financial and Banking Committees, were directly responsible for contributing mightily to the financial meltdown in 2008. Their joint delicate glass menageries were Fannie May and Freddie Mac, two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) and notorious linchpins in the economic collapse. These GSE's main function was to purchase risky bundled loans from people who had no business getting loans in the first place. Then the economy turned south, borrowers defaulted on their loans and Fannie and Freddie were stuck holding their rear ends. And we pay for it all. How does that taste Mr and Mrs Taxpayer?

Because of this reckless business plan and non-existent oversight from Frank and Dodd, Fannie and Freddie are bankrupt and wards of the taxpayers. To date, Fannie and Freddie have cost the taxpayers $400BILLION. That is more than the 9 year war in Afghanistan. And they continue to lose money everyday! Shockingly, these two lunkhead authors of the bill, did not include reform of their two pets in the new 2,000 page bill. Why? As stated in the media, Frank said, "...we'll get back to them later." Hey, knuckleheads, F&F are hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars right now and you'll get back to them later. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

What do you expect from political careerists who have never had to meet a payroll, balance a checkbook, cut costs, take a pay cut and fly commercial? Red ink to them is just a bright color.

Sure, Frank and Dodd continue to blame the previous administration for Fannie and Freddie failures. Their year and a half chorus grows tiresome. But the record is the record.

In 2003, President Bush fought to get Fannie and Freddie under stricter regulatory control. Bush's independent report stated that Franklin Raines, Fannie's chairman, was cooking the books for self-aggrandizement. Between 1998-2003, Franklin minted over $90million in salary and bonuses...not bad for government work. Frank and others dismissed Bush's report and the President's call for scrutiny, saying, "The more people exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness (at Fannie and Freddie), the more people conjure up the possibility of financial losses to the Treasury which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially." Really.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Fannie and Freddie need to be fixed and fixed now and not when you get around to it. Do it now...you're on the clock.

{This frustrating reality is indeed stranger than fiction and it continues...unabated. Good gracious.}