UPDATED: The Not Ready for Primetime Player | Philly

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Monday, September 8, 2008

UPDATED: The Not Ready for Primetime Player

How cute..."Her First Gaffe." And someone even had the videocamera rolling:

Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend.

Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, as McClatchy reported, "aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization."

Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, which came before the government had spent funds baling the two entities out, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding about one of the key economic issues likely to face the next administration.

"You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country's mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn't speak well for her, I'd say."

Yes, I did say earlier today that stories like this will backfire -- but I didn't say I would stop linking to them. Remember Jimmy Stewart: A lost cause is the only cause worth fighting for, especially when it's the truth.

UPDATE: Ed Rendell, who knows a thing or two about state troopers, most of it learned at 110 mph, ripped into Palin over "Troopergate" today:

"She [claims to be] a reformer," said the Pennsylvania Democrat. "And yet she is being investigated on the charge that she used her power as governor to fire someone who was going through a messy divorce with a relative of hers. Could you imagine if I was doing the same thing in Pennsylvania? You would be calling for my impeachment."

Posted by Will Bunch @ 2:23 PM Permalink | 73 comments

Comments

Posted 02:32 PM, 09/08/2008

Gibba Mang

Christ, she doesn't even know a thing about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. What have the old white guys in the GOP been doing for the past 4 days or is she not that bright? And why won't Sarah release those emails?

Posted 02:33 PM, 09/08/2008

Ha, Will and his comrades got their wish.

Posted 02:35 PM, 09/08/2008

jjfalcon35

Is there anybody here ready to argue against the fact that Fannie and Freddie grew out of control and now will cost taxpayers over 200 billion dollars?. Palin is dead on right. You guys are desperate

Posted 02:39 PM, 09/08/2008

Red Wright-Hand

And McCain's in the shot right behind her, clapping as she gets the basic facts wrong. Classic.

Posted 02:48 PM, 09/08/2008

jfar86

Gibba, exactly what do you know about Freddie and Fannie. Enlighten us.

Posted 02:50 PM, 09/08/2008

db_cooper

Classic Will post. Palin is dead-on correct. She got the verb tense wrong - they WILL cost the taxpayers too much money by the time this is done. Thanks largely to the antics of a couple of former and current advisors to the Obama campaign who were CEOs at Fannie Mae when they turned FM into their own personal salad bar. Gee, Will, when are you going to post on Dem corruption that has and will cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars instead of shreiking about Palin's use of a verb.

Posted 02:52 PM, 09/08/2008

LJL

Why are you people SO obsessed with facts, performance and intelligence? She's a 44YO woman with a knocked up daughter and Down's syndrome baby. She DESERVES TO BE VPOTUS. Nit pickers.

Posted 02:53 PM, 09/08/2008

db_cooper

"Is there anybody here ready to argue against the fact that Fannie and Freddie grew out of control and now will cost taxpayers over 200 billion dollars?." Nah, Will has ignored the role Obama campaign advisors have played in this fiasco, just as he refused to report on Chris Dodd's sweetheart Countrywide mortage - you know, the Chris Dodd who inserted language drafted by BofA (which bought Countrywide) that will cost taxpayers billions. Nah, Attytood is operationally integrated into the Obama campaign and has ceased to be anything remotely resembling journalism - which is why we see gleeful shrieking and nitpicking about what Palin said, while ignoring the fact that she is correct - it will cost taxpayers too much, and Obama cronies are a large part of the reason.

Posted 02:54 PM, 09/08/2008

db_cooper

"Why are you people SO obsessed with facts, performance and intelligence? " I know, we're so silly. We should be more concerned with words than the underlying corruption that Palin is describing. I guess corruption is OK as long as the Dems are benefitting from it.

Posted 02:57 PM, 09/08/2008

yoda

jj, they didn't "grow out of control", they were mismanaged, and also blindsided by the same mortgage meltdown that's scorching so much of Wall Street. They didn't use taxpayer money to operate, and they still haven't cost any taxpayer money (though they probably will). The takeover should remove the ambiguity that was always the conradiction at the heart of their mission and allow them to fulfill their intended function more efficiently and at lower cost than before. Ms. Palin clearly understands none of this; she just sees an opportunity to make some fake partisan points, truth be d***ed. She's real good at that, I have to admit.

Posted 03:02 PM, 09/08/2008

db_cooper

"they were mismanaged," Understatement. Two former Fannie Mae CEOs are either current or former Obama campaign advisors. They changed Fannie Mae to maximize stock price to rake in millions in bonuses, and in the process shifted Fannie Mae into a much riskier portfolio. And Rahm Emmanuel was on the Fannie Mae board and blocked efforts by the Bush Admin to reduce the risk level of Fannie Mae's actions. Prominent Dems are in up to their necks in this, but they will walk away with their millions in bonuses and leave the taxpayers and shareholders to pick up billions in losses. So excuse us for properly calling this a partisan issue.

Posted 03:05 PM, 09/08/2008

SteveMG

I guess for db and the other low information voters, she was close enough.

Posted 03:10 PM, 09/08/2008

jjfalcon35

You bet they will cost taxpayers a lot of money and thats her point. They are huge and that is a problem. What has the Dem Congress done to protect Fannie and freddie since 2006. Nothing. We the taxpayer will bailout irresponsible lenders, individual speculators and a bunch of people who got into homes they could not afford without doing their homework. Bush did not put a gun on the head of all those people who created this mess by their actions, a lot of them economic advisors of Obama.

Posted 03:12 PM, 09/08/2008

db_cooper

"I guess for db and the other low information voters, she was close enough." Says the man as he makes a one-sentence post. Care to refute anything I have posted on this thread about mismanagement at Fannie Mae by current and former Obama campaign advisors? How Dem insiders turned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into their own personal salad bars, for which we the taxpayers will now be on the hook for billions? Just who is the low information voter, eh?

Posted 03:12 PM, 09/08/2008

SteveMG

Oh that dastardly Rahm Emanuel! He stopped poor President Bush from saving the housing market. Riiiiight. If the administration wanted to address the problem, they would have. Most likely they did what they did before 9/11, covered their behinds. Hey, cooper, how come the speculators let the price of oil come down? Weren't they the ones driving it over 140? Why did they suddenly stop driving it up?

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About Will Bunch

Will's book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

E-mail Will by clicking here.

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