Word: congression
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Americans may despise pork in someone else's district, but they tend to view it as vital infrastructure when it comes home; that's why so many Americans despise Congress but still support their local members of Congress. And that's why McCain's steadfast opposition to all earmarks requested by individual members of Congress - the common definition of pork - could be a political liability. As a procedural matter, it makes sense to stop Representatives from slipping pet projects into law, although some legislators argue that earmarking is a useful check on executive power, and that earmarks are just...
...worst housing slump since the Great Depression--prices are down 18% since mid-2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national index--has made once safe mortgages look perilous and Frannie's capital cushion look alarmingly skimpy. In July, in another of his Sunday bombshells, Paulson asked Congress for the authority to do (and spend) whatever it took to keep the companies from going under. He soon got what he wanted, and he said he hoped that alone would be enough to see them through. But after taking a closer look at the exact state of their capital reserves and watching...
Treasuries are explicitly backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Fannie's and Freddie's paper, on the other hand, have long included the disclaimer that they are "not guaranteed by the United States." But both firms were creations of Congress and had access to a Treasury line of credit. As a result, Paulson said when he announced the takeover, "central banks and investors throughout the United States and around the world ... believe them to be virtually risk-free." And because the U.S. government created this perception, Paulson felt he had little choice but to make perception...
...course, by extending a taxpayer guarantee to $5.3 trillion in mortgage debt, Paulson and Congress do risk sparking global worries about the U.S. government's ability to service its debts. But so far, such concerns, while raised occasionally in the financial media, have had no discernible effect on interest rates...
...believe that or not, it's certainly true that Frannie has since stepped up precisely as private lenders have pulled back. Paulson's takeover plan envisions the GSES continuing to step up through the end of 2009, after which Treasury's backing expires and the next Administration and Congress will decide the companies' future...