The attached headline from an industry publication called HousingWire sounds par for the course. Naturally you would expect the Washington low-income housing lobbies like the National Black Chamber of Commerce and the liberal activist groups like the National Consumer League and the National Organization for Women to line-up against killing Fannie and Freddie. So they have announced the perennial “new coalition” to fight the good cause—deftly calling it “United For American Home Ownership”(UAH):
New housing advocacy group launches to fight GSE reform
Housing activists want to protect Fannie, Freddie
“For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been the backbone of a healthy housing market, ensuring affordability and access to the dream of American homeownership,” said former Senator Bob Kerrey, a member of the UAH Board of Directors. “But now Congress is considering legislation that could knock the housing market off track and keep many hardworking families from achieving the American dream of homeownership. Eliminating trusted institutions like Fannie and Freddie is a dangerous idea, and one that United for American Homeownership is prepared to fight all the way.”
The backbone of a healthy housing market, enduring affordability and the American dream?! “Eliminating trusted institutions” like Fannie and Freddie a “dangerous idea”? Has this man no shame?
Indeed, did former Senator Robert Kerrey, who left Capitol Hill way back in 2001, retire to a hog farm in Nebraska and loose track of the last 13 years? Well, no, he spent the next 9 years as President of the iconic “New School” located in Greenwich Village, NYC.
Presumably some of the 9,000 students there might have brought his attention to the fiasco that finally materialized in the summer of 2008. That’s when Secretary Paulson claimed to have a bazooka in his pocket that would save Fannie and Freddie—only to panic a few weeks latter and put Uncle Sam on the line for the entire $6 trillion mess that had accumulated over decades under the very same guise of “promoting the American dream of homeownership”.
Never mind, however. A couple of lines from Kerrey’s Wiki page provides an update on what he’s really been up to since his New School gig:
In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America,[2] but he and the MPAA could not reach an agreement,[3]
In 2012, Kerrey sought election to his old Senate seat to succeed retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson.[4] He lost to Republican nominee Deb Fischer.
In 2013, Kerry joined the Carmen Group lobbying firm.[5]
So there you have it. A decade in the hot-bed of progressive academia, a foiled trip through Hollywood and a failed comeback in Nebraska. What does a politico lifer do next? Why he goes full retard crony capitalist and becomes a lobbyist.
But here’s the stinky part. At the very bottom of the HousingWire story you can find out who’s the bankroll behind the new UAH coalition. Why it’s none other than Bruce Berkowitz the hedge fund brat who thinks the American people owe him an opulent living. He’s the leader of the fast money pack that has had the temerity to buy up worthless Fannie and Freddie preferred stock at cents on the dollar and is now demanding that Congress “reform” these agencies—so that their “investments” will be worth par and generate billions in ill-gotten gains.
The broad coalition behind UAH consists of: The National Black Chamber of Commerce, RetireSafe, National Consumer League, National Organization for Women, Fair Housing Advocates Association and Fairholme.
So that’s why a has-been Senator becomes a lobbyist in his golden years. Namely, to link up Wall Street plunder with Washington mendacity. Ask no more why money rules the beltway and why America is becoming a crony capitalist dystopia.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29834-new-housing-advocacy-group-launches-to-fight-gse-reform
