Obama feigns outrage over bonuses, then approves bigger bailout for bonus-givers Fannie and Freddie
By: DAVID FREDDOSO
Online Opinion Editor
12/26/09 8:42 PM EST
This deserves -- and will get -- much more than the passing reference of a weekend blog post, but it is significant to see this news go down the Christmas news dump:
“The Obama administration pledged Thursday to provide unlimited financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an eleventh-hour move that allows the government to exceed the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid without seeking permission from a bailout-weary Congress. The Christmas Eve announcement by the Treasury Department means that it can continue to run the companies, which were seized last year, as arms of the government for the rest of President Obama's current term. … Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed that they had received approval from their federal regulator to pay $42 million in Wall Street-style compensation packages to 12 top executives for 2009. The compensation packages [include] up to $6 million each to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's chief executives.”
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