White House Wimps Out
The White House is now backing away from its threat to veto the pork-filled bills that would bail out government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae’s executives engaged in massive accounting fraud to inflate their multimillion dollar bonuses. They also used heavy-handed tactics against the press and lawmakers like Paul Ryan and Richard Baker to fight off reforms that would have curbed their risky practices. Fannie Mae’s liberal supporters on Capitol Hill, like Barney Frank, Charles Schumer, and Chris Dodd, are now using mortgage bailout legislation to subsidize left-wing groups that support them, like ACORN and La Raza, at taxpayer expense.