Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Finely calibrated reactions..

Politicians, and especially the presidential candidates, have to tread a fine line while trying to use the recent market 'meltdown' (Fannie & Freddie, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, etc.) to make points with the public...

"... Of the 354 lawmakers who received money from Freddie and Fannie between 1989 and 2008, Sen. Chris Dodd received the most. But next was . . . drumroll . . . Barack Obama..."

Whoops!

Both the Republicans and Democrats have given the financial services industry everything it wanted. The finance sector has endless amounts of money to influence politics and can outgun the bank regulators every time.” That was Richard Christopher Whalen, Managing Director of Institutional Risk Analytics..." (2007 interview) and "... It’s the same rough picture over at Lehman Brothers. The firm, says opensecrets.org “has built a strong financial relationship with politicians over the years and coincidentally ranks fourth in the largest contributors in the race for the White House.” Barack Obama has received $395,600 from Lehman and its employees, while John McCain has taken in $117,500...."

A Bipartisan Guide to the Financial Collapse: Who’s not taking money from Merrill and Lehman?