Leftist hacks are taking the usual track, but they ignore the fact that Bush tried to rein in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae years ago and were blocked by Democrats. Via Hot Air:
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with Lehman and AIG, are now the subject of federal probes for fraud:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration.
Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and insurer American International Group Inc.
The inquiries, still in preliminary stages, will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, a senior law enforcement official said..
Officials said the new inquiries brings the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the last year to 26.
Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.
Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also is looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.
Hmmm. Who was in charge of Fannie? Wasn’t it Clinton appointee Franklin Raines, who’s now an Obama advisor?
And why did the Democrats allow this to keep going on?
It’s almost as if they wanted this to happen.
I don’t really support bailing out any of these failed companies. I’m not surprised that John McCain or George W. Bush have gone to promote lite versions of what Barack Obama is plotting to do.
It’s just quite bad to bail out companies that do not really deserve to be bailed out. It’s like if the government would bail out everyone whom were in credit card debt, or give them gas money to just keep them going. These failed companies need to be reformed from within, and come back out even better with more competent leadership.
Throwing government bailout money at them won’t fix things. It’s rather literally corporate welfare if the same people remain in power without reform.