How Market Turmoil Affects Campaign

McCain, Obama stress urgent need for financial intervention

(NEWSER) - The presidential candidates took a break from stumping today to visit Washington, DC, and support the Senate's financial bailout plan, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama repeated his pro-bailout argument on the Senate floor, saying that "the worldwide economy could be plunged into a very, very deep hole." He admitted earlier today that the plan was "not perfect," but necessary to "prevent a crisis." More»

Both took cash from leaders; McCain's manager is GSEs' ex-lobbyist

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and John McCain are both railing against the excesses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the campaign trail, and promising to end the lobbyist culture in Washington that led to their fall. But both candidates and their parties have multiple ties to Fannie and Freddie, the New York Times reports, and both have taken campaign contributions from their leaders. More»

US accuses them of dodging due diligence as crisis fallout spreads

(NEWSER) - The Federal Housing Finance Agency—the agency behind Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac—has filed suit against more than a dozen big banks for their role in the mortgage meltdown mess. The feds, seeking billions in compensation, accuse the banks of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities, reports the New York Times . The suit accuses institutions including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank of failing to perform proper due diligence and missing evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. More»

(AP) - The FBI is investigating four major US financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700-billion bailout plan by the Bush administration. The agency is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurer AIG and Lehman Brothers. The inquiries will focus on the companies and the individuals that ran them, a senior law enforcement official said. More»

McCain is out of touch and off-message; Obama is reckless

(NEWSER) - With the economy in trouble, John McCain and Barack Obama have been talking economics. How are they doing?

• Not very well, says the Wall Street Journal, declaring that the candidates “appear to know more about Mars than they do about financial markets.” Obama’s offering a return to “paternalist” policies, while McCain seems off-message and out of touch.
• McCain’s responses, particularly his call for a financial 9/11 commission, seem awfully slow, writes John Fout of TheStreet.com, and his financial advisors have terrible records.