We hate to say "we told you so," but five years ago, POGO, Citizens Against Government Waste, and National Taxpayers Union wrote a letter urging Congress to pass a bill that would have required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disclose more detailed information on their mortgage-backed securities. Perhaps if we had known more about the real state of their affairs, we would not have ended up in this government bailout mess.
In addition, Bloomberg News reports that the government takeover will "stop one of Washington's most powerful lobbying juggernauts in its tracks after the mortgage giants had spent tens of millions of dollars thwarting efforts to increase government oversight." Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spent a total of $7.4 million on lobbying in the first six months of this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
-- Danielle Brian
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