Freddie Mac Paid Monthly $15K to McCain Aide's Firm

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»

Strategist cries foul after paper reports on lobbyist links

(NEWSER) - The McCain camp launched another attack on the media yesterday, this time blasting the New York Times as "biased" for its report linking the campaign to lobbyists for Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae. A spokesman called the Times a "pro-Obama advocacy organization" after the paper revealed that campaign manager Rick Davis received $2 million when he was a lobbyist to shield the loan giants from tougher regulations, reports the Washington Post. More»

Obama, McCain haven't talked much about US economy—now they'll have to

(NEWSER) - The crisis on Wall Street will change the shape of the presidential campaign in its final weeks, forcing both sides to adjust their messages and strategies. Mike Allen, in Politico, details four major effects:

• Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has talked much, or in detail, about economic plans. No saving that for January 2009 now.

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»