What Letter was McCain Referring To?
by Jesse Nankin, ProPublica
UPDATE 10/10/08 - The McCain campaign sent a copy of the letter and it is available here for viewing.
Both John McCain and Barack Obama took turns during the second presidential debate on Tuesday night claiming credit for having warned of an imminent economic crisis.
Obama has referred frequently to his 2007 letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. But Sen. McCain countered by saying that he had written a letter "warning of exactly this crisis." As far as we can tell, this was the first reference McCain has made of such a letter, and we couldn't find it. Despite multiple requests, the McCain campaign did not provide comment or the letter.
Obama likes to bring up the letter he wrote to Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Dated March 22, 2007, about six weeks after he'd declared his candidacy for the presidency, the letter stressed the need for immediate intervention to curb the "rising rates of home foreclosure in the subprime mortgage market":
And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly.
Crediting the senator with a foresight others lacked, however, would be a stretch. The subprime mortgage crisis had been well underway for some time. See, for example, reporting by the New York Times in June 2005 on a growing housing crisis. A month later the Times wrote of the unease among federal banking regulators with regards to high-risk mortgage loans.
At Tuesday's debate, McCain added a new detail to his role as an early warrior against bad lending practices by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Apparently he, too, wrote a letter:
I think if we act effectively -- if we stabilize the housing market, which I believe we can if we go out and buy up these bad loans so that people can have a new mortgage at the new value of their home; I think if we get rid of the cronyism and special interest influence in Washington so we can act more effectively -- my friend, I'd like you to see the letter that a group of senators and I wrote warning exactly of this crisis. Senator Obama's name was not on that letter.
McCain may have been referring to actions he took in support of the bill he co-sponsored in 2005 -- the Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act -- which called for stricter regulations for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. When he joined as a co-sponsor in May 2006, about a year after it was first introduced, he made the following statement:
For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market....If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
But until we see his letter, we can't be sure.
Adding to the confusion is a statement he made during a November 2007 interview with the New Hampshire Keene Sentinel, which touched on, among other topics, the subprime mortgage crisis:
"I don't really know of hardly anybody who, with the exception of a handful, that said, wait a minute this thing is getting completely out of hand and is overheating. So, I'd like to tell you I did anticipate it, but I have to give you straight talk. I did not."
For those interested in reading up on the two candidates' positions on market reforms, see our complete rundown.
Cross-posted at ProPublica, America's largest investigative newsroom.
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"UPDATE 10/10/08 - The McCain campaign sent a copy of the letter and it is available here for viewing.:
ROFL!
Well, there really was a letter and he really did sign on as a co-sponsor. I think he 'forgot' about his endorsement of those regulations for Fanny and Freddie because he was trying to win over the super-right wing of his party who hate regulations.
After hearing him finally tell the truth about Obama--that he is a good, decent man whom people do not need to fear as president (Friday's town hall meeting), I believe him now about this crisis. And I am glad he isn't the idiot he appeared to be two weeks ago. Though I will still vote Obama, of course!
Let's stop looking for scapegoats or saviors. Get to work, folks, and figure out how to get out of this mess.
My first solution: TAKE A DEEP BREATH! Close the markets worldwide and just take a nap.
Then, when we are calm, sit down and do the math and figure out a way out. People out there have money to help. They can step up.
McCain says he knows how to find Bin Laden, win wars, fix the economy, fix health care, etc. But he's keeping it all a secret unless he wins. IF he got elected, I guess he'd FORGET all he ever knew how to do, HUH?
McCain opens his mouth it's a lie,,,this guy has rounded the corner ..
The letter was accidently stuck to his Dear Santa letter. It's floating around the North Pole somewhere.
Probably in Palin's purse.
Did you know, by the way, that McCain did jail-time as a Pow?
Ah just one question to anyone (provided nobody has asked it yet). When Sen. McCain wrote his "letter" and said that Obama's name was not on it, could it be that Sen. Obama was not yet a Senator? It would be pretty hard for Sen. Obama to have signed it while he was still in the Illinois Senate. Anyone have a clue on this.
McCain didn't write a letter - he addressed the issue, as a sitting U.S. Senator should, by co-sponsoring legislation and speaking out on the floor of the Senate! That sure beats what Obama did!
He said he wrote a letter. Small detail.
I'll give him a stamp, and an envelope, if he'll send it. But ONLY if he sends it: I'm a Republican cheapskate too.
Signing on a year after some other Senators had introduced and pushed the bill makes him a co sponsor in name only. To me it makes him a "checking the wind direction me too" follower not a leader.
Wow! He spoke out on the Senate floor!
That's HEROIC!
Did you hear that he did jail-time as a POW!?
Have you notice this...wit
So if Obama wrote a letter, now McCain wrote a letter...O
Like I said before, McCain wrote the letter but he hasn't sent it yet.
When he figures where the send button is on his Yahoo Email account he will send it, just relaz y'all.
I got the letter. It was signed only by Obama.
You BELIEVED him!?
You DIDN'T!?
Everything he says is a lie. His supporters don't even care anymore
It isn't that they don't care. It's that they don't know the difference; they believe a lie and a truth are equal in validity.
And you wonder why their heads implode as result of the sucking vacuum inside them.
He didn't say he SENT it to anyone, he just said he wrote it...
"The dog ate my letter."
PEACE
My dog ate my prepared lie before I could memorize it.
how bad do u want to be president?
what is, the question i'd ask mccain if i ever had the pleasure.
I'm much more interested in seeing a simple balance sheet to support Obama's repeated claims that he can pay for "every dime" of new spending he has promised.
He said that at the Dem convention. He said it in the first debate. And then he said there would actually be a "net spending cut" in the second debate.
Well, since that's almost a trillion dollars he's talking about there, I think the American people deserve a chance to see his balance sheet for themselves.
Is he banking on repatriating EVERY dollar stashed away in tax havens?
Is he banking on closing EVERY tax loophole in the entire tax code?
If so, I think the American people need to know that's how he plans to pay for his new spending, since either premise is laughably naive.
quite reasonable but first i would like to hear anything of substance from McCain - he no longer even articulates any plans - quite right Obama may not be able to accomplish all he says he wants to but McCain offers no plans at all - just empty political barks
I would clearly put my stock in someone who has a plan and a direction and a vision - all of which are good for the american people
excuse me ... this article was talking about a McCain letter not an Obama balance sheet. find the right page!
Let me guess. You STILL like the old dude.
What about McCain.
He said he would freeeze spending, and also buy defaulted mortgages.
Balance the budget, while lowering taxes.
Let's see his plan for that.
There is no letter and he has no plan.
He did too send the letter. It's not his fault he neglected to put a stamp on it: he's a Republican, and a hero cuz he did jail-time as a POW, so he doesn't make mistakes.
Or if he makes mistakes, he can't be held to account because it's the liberal media's fault.
What probably happened is the media ate his talking points, titled "These are Talking Points Misrepresented as Being a Letter that Senator Obama Didn't Sign," but forgot to print them as if they were factual. As if they were News, with a capital "N".
Did you ask for GWB's spreadsheet? If you did, you really should have double checked the numbers.
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