Barack Obama is the second biggest recipient of political money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the last ten years. He’s been in Washington for four. Does it matter? Maybe. May not. But does it seem consistent with his rhetoric about reform and independence from lobbyists and PACs? Certainly not.
Senator Obama, you're being hyperbolic! UPDATE: jumco reformatted this post without changing any of its content other than the typo of 'bring' to 'being'
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He's not the only one. Rick Davis was a Fannie Mae lobbyist and McCain has gotten $169,000 from "directors, officers and lobbylists" from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, compared to Obama's $16,000, according to the NYT. They both have pretty significant personal/financial ties to Fannie/Freddie...
ReplyDeleteSomething doesn't make sense. What accounts for the disparity between these two reports?
ReplyDeleteWhich disparity? Also, Newsweek has breaking news right now on MSNBC about Rick Davis's relationship to Freddie Mac. He's been receiving $15K / month up until LAST month and is saying he has not done any work for the money.
ReplyDeleteMay I add:
ReplyDeleteMan, the McCain campaign is really putting effort into making it harder to defend.
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ReplyDeleteThere is a discrepancy between the two sources because OpenSecrets is reporting on donations received from individual employees who elected to contribute to political campaigns, whereas NYT is reporting on donations received specifically from Fannie and Freddie directors, officers and lobbyists.
ReplyDeleteDonations from employees 1989-2008:
Obama - $120,349
McCain - $21,550
Donations from directors, officers and lobbyists during 2008 campaigns:
Obama - $16,000
McCain - $169,000
So, if you are terribly concerned about Obama's popularity among Fannie and Freddie employees, then OpenSecrets is your reference.