American Bridge Releases “Mitt’s Flips” Video Highlighting Romney’s Hypocrisy On Fannie & Freddie
In advance of tonight’s Republican presidential debate, American Bridge 21st Century today released a video highlighting Mitt Romney’s bad habit of switching positions nearly every time he walks into a room. As the Boston Globe reported, despite his campaign rhetoric lambasting the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for causing the housing crisis, Romney has up to half a million dollars in a mutual fund that is heavily invested in debt notes of the two entities. The video plays off of a comment Romney made in a Florida town hall just yesterday: “I think the American people recognize that we’re in a point of crisis and they want to hear the truth. And they can tell when people are being phony, and are pandering to an audience. And you’ll see that in politics, you’re not gonna see it in my campaign.” Obviously, given Romney’s long history of abandoning his so-called convictions every time he wages a campaign, that claim is laughably false.
RELEASE: American Bridge Releases “Mitt’s Flips” Video Highlighting Romney’s Hypocrisy on Fannie & Freddie
Washington, DC – In advance of tonight’s Republican presidential debate, American Bridge 21st Century today released a video highlighting Mitt Romney’s bad habit of switching positions nearly every time he walks into a room. As the Boston Globe reported, despite his campaign rhetoric lambasting the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for causing the housing crisis, Romney has up to half a million dollars in a mutual fund that is heavily invested in debt notes of the two entities. The video plays off of a comment Romney made in a Florida town hall just yesterday: “I think the American people recognize that we’re in a point of crisis and they want to hear the truth. And they can tell when people are being phony, and are pandering to an audience. And you’ll see that in politics, you’re not gonna see it in my campaign.”
MSNBC's PoliticsNation On Mitt Romney's Hypocritical Investments In Fannie & Freddie
On September 20, 2011, MSNBC's PoliticsNation covered Mitt Romney's investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who he blamed for "inducing the home-mortgage crisis and saying they have become too unwieldy." Take a look:
Mother Jones: Romney and Fannie and Freddie: Oh My!
"Republican presidential contender Mitt Romneylikes to slam Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-run housing giants that he claims triggered the recent housing meltdown. (They didn't.) But what Romney isn't letting on, the Boston Globe reports, is that at the same time he's ripped Fannie and Freddie, he has also raked in cash from personal investments in the two companies, which the federal government took over in September 2008. [...] A spokesman for American Bridge, the liberal opposition research group that pulled together Romney's financial records, said the candidate's Fannie and Freddie investments show that Romney's "hypocrisy knows no limits.""
Boston Globe: Romney Pummels, Profits From Fannie, Freddie
From the Boston Globe:
Read more from the Boston Globe after the jumpRomney has profited from investments that were made in both government entities, according to his personal finance disclosure forms and documents compiled by American Bridge, one of several Democratic groups in Washington formed to back the election campaigns of Obama and other Democrats.
The issue illustrates the potential perils for a candidate with vast financial holdings whose rhetoric does not necessarily match his investment interests.
“Once again, Mitt Romney has proven his hypocrisy knows no limits,” said Ty Matsdorf, spokesman for American Bridge, which was formed earlier this year and has been going through the records of President Obama’s potential opponents. “To continually attack the housing crisis, yet invest up to a half a million dollars in the major players is absolutely mind boggling. I didn’t know a person could flip flop on themselves, but Romney has proven that wrong.”
Dean Heller On Mortgage Reforms
Heller Voted to Terminate the Home Affordable Modification Program. On March 29, 2011, Heller voted to terminate the Home Affordable Modification Program meant to prevent mortgage foreclosures. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The House voted 252 to 170 to end the Obama administration’s main mortgage foreclosure prevention program, saying the much-criticized initiative has been ineffective and given false hope to hundreds of thousands of homeowners who ultimately lost their homes anyway. The vote […] follows votes this month […] to end three smaller federal programs designed to help homeowners and communities deal with the foreclosure crisis. […] HAMP is the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s efforts to keep struggling homeowners in their houses but has drawn bipartisan criticism for failing to meet its objectives. It was launched with great fanfare in early 2009 with the goal of helping 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure through 2012 by providing cash incentives for lenders to reduce monthly payments. Funded with as much as $30 billion from the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, HAMP has permanently lowered payments for about 540,000 homeowners through January.” [Roll Call 198, H 839, 03/29/2011; Los Angeles Times, 03/30/11]
170,000 Nevadan Homeowners Are Underwater On Their Mortgages. “The financial firm First American CoreLogic reports that 170,000 mortgage holders in Nevada owe more than 25 percent above their home’s value. In a state with a jobless rate now higher than 10 percent, bankruptcy may be the option of last resort for those cases, experts have said.” [Las Vegas Sun, 5/3/09]
Heller Has Taken Over $358,000 From Real Estate Interests. According to the non-partisan Center For Responsive Politics, Senator Dean Heller has taken at least $358,450,098 in federal campaign contributions from real estate interests throughout his career. [Opensecrets.org accessed 6/24/2011]
George Allen On Banking And Mortgage Reform
Allen Voted Against Requiring Financial Companies To Provide Truth-In-Lending Information To Homeowners. Allen voted against the Torres amendment requiring financial institutions to provide homeowners with truth-in-lending information within three days of applying to refinance a mortgage. [Vote 364, H.AMDT 789 to H.R. 5334, 8/5/92, Failed 153-268, D: 147-109, R: 5-159, I: 1-0]