Monday, October 13, 2008

Op-Ed By BRUCE ASH - AZ GOP National Committeeman: 'Obama, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac'


Many investors are nervous because of the current uncertainty in the stock market, and the general lack of liquidity in the financial markets. Now, however, is NOT the time to sell. There are some unique buying opportunities in a market that has lost 20% of its value. If you can avoid the herd mentality fueled by the same type of speculation that caused this crisis, there are good profits to be gained in the future - if you are prudent and patient. The American economy is still the strongest in the world. Success from Wall Street to Main Street, however, may have something to do with who is elected President in 2008.

The argument put forth by the Obama campaign and his media minions is that John McCain and the GOP have caused the decline in the economy and the stock market. Their endless "blame Bush" mantra seems to apply here. They want you to forget that lower incremental tax rates for individuals and businesses, as advocated by the GOP
, have increased revenues to the Treasury dramatically since 2003, and are a worldwide example of successful tax policy.

The Democrats endeavor to inoculate Senator Obama from any connection to any of the current market volatility. They want you to believe that Obama and his liberal economic brain trust will change America for the better and make the improvements needed to correct the economy. Yet Barack Obama wants to raise corporate taxes and make it more difficult for small businesses to reinvest in their own operations. Obama’s tax policy will further slow our economy by confiscating more money from investors and decreasing liquidity in the market.

In addition,
the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a result of crooked accountants cooking the books to make their bundled loan packages look like profitable risks to the Wall Street banks. These same officials got away with their crimes by lavishing money on mostly Democratic legislators, including Obama, who was the second highest recipient of Fannie/Freddie money in Congress.

Obama looked the other way when these same executives opened their golden parachutes and took off with taxpayer money. The way he tells the story, it seems like it was everybody else’s responsibility, just not the Democrats in Congress. Now Obama and his friends are trying to cover their tracks and pointing fingers at the one man who called to reign in the government sponsored entities – John McCain.

Senator McCain has advocated for stricter oversight and
regulation
of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- dating back to 2006. As a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, McCain supported legislation that would have curbed the greed and corruption surrounding the subprime mortgage market. This bill was killed by Ranking Democrats on the Senate Banking
Committee.


Is it any wonder why Obama would try to deflect attention from his own connections to this crisis?
James Johnson, who headed his VP selection Committee, was Fannie CEO and “Subprime Mortgage Queen” Penny Pritzer, Obama's campaign Finance Chair, were both not only involved in this debacle but directly responsible for creating the situations that began the sub prime lending schemes and caused the mortgage collapse.

The real problem, however, is more insidious. Since the mid 1990's, Democrats have used home ownership as a club to gain political advantage from minority groups and low-income voters, with whom they sought to curry favor across America. The Democrats, collaborating with community organizing groups like ACORN, beat up bankers, regulators, and whomever else, in order to drive their dangerous political agenda.

The result was that many hundreds of thousands of loans were made to first time homeowners with no chance of repayment. Bankers across America suffered with excessive delinquency, which resulted in the secondary mortgage industry being wrecked by these politically connected executives selfishly intent on gaining voters for their Democrat candidates. Meanwhile,
the Democrats running Fannie and Freddie made untold millions. These are undisputed facts.

We face an election for the United States Presidency on November 4th and we’re still faced with serious questions about Obama’s fiscal policy. Most importantly, can Americans trust the Democrat party
to play fair in the future, on the Housing issue, or any other partisan issue, when for over a decade they only played in a way that benefited them personally and politically? Should Barack Obama be trusted with proposing tax policy,
when he has voted nine times against lowering the capital gains tax rate, seven times against implementing tax incentives for small businesses, six times against lowering the estate tax and three times against repealing a more than decade-old increase in taxes on Social Security benefits.


When you are looking at your 401-K, or IRA, why would you ever entrust your future to Barack Obama and the Democrats? It’s possible that the rest of the marketplace, now seeing the real possibility of an Obama Presidency, may be bailing from the market. Many observers are beginning to opine that the recent market issues have a lot to do with a lack of confidence in a potential Obama presidency. The handwriting is on the wall, and the future looks grim if Obama wins in November.


BRUCE ASH
Arizona Republican National Committeeman

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