Gingrich Was Paid ~$1.7M From GSEs

Wait, I thought this was all Barney Frank’s fault?

Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts with mortgage company Freddie Mac, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.

The total amount is significantly larger than the $300,000 payment from Freddie Mac that Gingrich was asked about during a Republican presidential debate on Nov. 9 sponsored by CNBC, and more than was disclosed in the middle of congressional investigations into the housing industry collapse.

Here is the thing about not caring much about reality: If you are going to create a false narrative about the causes of an event, you must be aware of details, data and facts even if you don’t want to believe in them.

Why? Because eventually in a modern, interconnected, socially leveraged, everyone has a camera attached to their phone society, the truth will eventually somehow works its way to the public.

And if you are running for office making claims that are demonstrably false, its even more likely that somehow reality will intrude on your nice fantasy.

Here is the even bigger joke: Gingrich was paid a self-renewing, monthly retainer of $25,000 – $30,000 between May 1999 until 2002. That is according to Bloomberg, who verified the contract with “three people familiar with aspects of the business agreement.” The kicker: Gingrich consulted with Freddie Mac executives on a program to expand home ownership, and “helped pitch the idea to President George W. Bush’s White House.”

Gingrich has previously said that “You ought to start with Barney Frank when talking about people to put in jail . . . Go back and look at the lobbyists he was close to at Freddie Mac.”

Here is what I believe about the impact of this:

1) This was NOT a substantial cause of the Housing boom and bust;

2) The political party that controls the House, Senate and White House will have far more influence than the party that did not;

3) The hypocrisy of the false GOP narrative is astounding.

I am sticking with my originally listed causes of the crisis. But I am upgrading Newt Gingrich from “Pompous Blowhard” to “Hypocritical Liar.”

And for the record, I do not believe either Frank or Gingrich caused the crisis . . .

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Source:
Gingrich Said to Be Paid at Least $1.6 Million by Freddie Mac
Clea Benson and Dawn Kopecki
Nov 16, 2011 12:01 AM
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-16/gingrich-said-to-be-paid-at-least-1-6-million-by-freddie-mac.html