Greenberg Continues Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Attack

8th congressional district GOP challenger Steve Greenberg continues his attack on his Democratic Party opponent, Congresswoman Melissa Bean, for cozying up to two of the major causes of the home mortgage crisis—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His latest press release is below:

Melissa Bean Never Could Stand Up to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac

Voted Against Strengthening Regulation Her First Year in Office

LAKE ZURICH, IL 10/31/08 – Melissa Bean had the opportunity to strengthen regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in her first year in office. Predictably, she voted against stepping up regulation of her top campaign contributors.

HR 1461,, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005, was introduced in April of 2005. This bill was intended to reform regulation of Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs), but lacked the authority to be effective. Bean voted against three amendments that would have strengthened the regulation:

  • Amendment #4 would have given the regulator the authority to impose capital strictures on Fannie and Freddie to avoid overleveraging.
  • Amendment #5 would have authorized the regulator to require the GSEs to dispose of or acquire assets if they posed a risk to the housing or capital markets or the market as a whole.
  • Amendment #6 would have eliminated the ability of the GSEs to borrow from the Treasury, eliminating the implied implicit government backing of Fannie and Freddie.

“This is the third obvious example of my opponent standing on the side of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Congressional Candidate Steve Greenberg.

“The 8th District deserves a Representative who will courageously stand for them over the special interests—who will be their voice in Congress. Melissa Bean’s priorities are clearly with the Washington interests who fill her campaign coffers, not the struggling families back home.”


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