Remember all the talk about the “blank check, blaaaank cheeeeck!” that Democrats did prior to Shock and Awe in Iraq? Yes you do – it was the buzz phrase on the lips of every Democrat as they formed a chorus of parrots in opposition to the Iraq war.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq, hinting they could deny funding if he seeks additional troops.
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“The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them. But if the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it and this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight, no standards, no conditions,” said Pelosi, D-Calif.
Blank checks for our troops = bad. Blank checks for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac = A-OK.
Shares of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soared Monday after the Treasury Department announced what essentially amounts to a blank check for their bailouts.
Treasury lifted a $200 billion limit on the amount it was ready to pump into each of the two mortgage firms after the markets closed Thursday. Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) shares leapt 21% Monday to $1.27, while shares of Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) jumped 27% to $1.60.
Well of course the shares are soaring: they’re getting a luscious, no-strings infusion of your cash mon-nay.
It’s nice to know that you can run an institution into the ground and yet still panhandle for money and receive it without having to change a single thing.
