There’s no G, S, or E in duopoly, is there?
In the best mystery novels, like those of the unparalleled John Dickson Carr, the clues come all out of order, often before the nefarious deeds are done.
As in the movie Memento, running the film backwards can organize the story. Consider this trio of stories about the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
To connect the dots, think outside the box
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year together spent nearly $23 million on lobbying, as Congress considered legislation to tighten oversight of the two mortgage finance companies in response to their multibillion-dollar accounting scandals.
Critics argue that their lobbying has been too geared toward trying to avoid tighter regulation and toward benefiting stockholders.
[…]
For more than a decade, Fannie Mae’s 55 “partnership offices” gave it the ability to lobby elected officials in their home districts as well as in
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac [Emphasis added! -- Ed.] this month severed their three-year relationships to lobbyists linked to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican indicted on money-laundering charges, the companies said.
The government-chartered mortgage finance companies cut ties to lobbyists at Alexander Strategy Group, including Tony Rudy, a former deputy to DeLay ….
Fannie Mae’s contract with Alexander “is completed and we don’t intend to utilize any member of the former firm’s services this year,” spokesman
While at Alexander, Rudy worked as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae beginning in 2002, according to federal filings by Alexander.
[…]
Freddie Mac “had an exclusive relationship with Terry Haines at Alexander Strategy and it’s premature to discuss what future relationship we’ll have” with him, spokesman Doug Duvall said. Haines is a former staff director for the House Financial Services Committee that oversees the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company doesn’t have a business relationship with Alexander, Duvall said.
One of
Alexander Strategy Group, which had thrived since its founding in 1998 thanks largely to its close connections to DeLay (R-Tex.), will cease to operate except for a relatively small business-development division, Edwin A. Buckham, the former top DeLay aide who owns the company, said yesterday.
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked closely with Alexander Strategy Group, which is closing. (By Gerald Herbert — Associated Press)
Now here’s the impertinent poser:
If you were large governmentally-advantaged institutions, often accused of being a duopoly, each under heavy political fire for massive accounting restatements, risky financial practices, dubious internal procedures, extravagant executive bonuses, and questionable historic payment policies, now trying to demonstrate contrition, would you use two individuals from the same lobbying firm?
“Contrariwise, there’s no G, S, or E in lobby, either!”
