Bubble and Crash

Many in Congress were skeptical they were overextending themselves. So they hired lobbyists. According to a September 9 report by Allan Chernoff, CNN senior correspondent, they spent $174 million in the last ten years lobbying Congress “to ensure the political climate would remain friendly.” That averages out at $297,435 per senator and representative. No wonder Greg Palast titled one of his books, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.

Under the takeover being engineered by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, the government will oversee operations through a “conservatorship.” It’s a fancy name for bankruptcy. Taxpayer money will be used to inject new capital into Fannie and Freddie’s operations, since, having lost so much on bad loans, they are broke.

How will it work? According to the Washington Post’s Steven Pearls