Mark Udall's "Laissez-Fail" An Indictment of His Democratic Party and His Own Votes?

Mark Udall quoted in today's Rocky Mountain News about our current economic crisis:

Congress must retain oversight of the treasury secretary's buyout and should get regular updates, [Mark] Udall insisted. And while it will be up to the next Congress and president to overhaul the financial regulatory system, this bill must outline a road map on how it will get there, he said.

"Clearly this is a laissez-faire attitude that's run amok and, as somebody quipped to me, now we have laissez-fail," Udall said.

But it was Mark Udall's Democratic Party that gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a free pass when oversight was needed. And it was Mark Udall whose votes in Congress let the mortgage lenders grow dangerously with low capital and high risk.

So I wouldn't exactly take Mark Udall to be a trusted expert on this issue. Then again, maybe he's just humbly hanging the laissez-fail label on his own shoulders.

Mark Udall's Votes Abet Economic Crisis, Aided by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Money

When it comes to the current economic crisis, liberal Washington insider Mark Udall once again proves he is more a part of the problem than of the solution. In February 2005, then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress of letting the bloated institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to grow with low capital and high risk.

On October 26, 2005, Udall voted against amendments that would have added capital to the mortgage lending giants and authorized them to sell off or acquire assets or liabilities, "if an asset or liability is deemed to be a potential systemic risk to the housing market, the capital markets or the financial system."

Let's be honest here. There are Democrats and Republicans in Congress who screwed up by making these votes. Mark Udall is with them on the wrong side of history.

More interestingly, according to the Federal Election Commission, Mark Udall has taken $3,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now that's not nearly as much as Barack Obama has taken from the failed financial institutions.

And it's not as much as Udall has taken from tax cheat Charlie Rangel's PAC, from retired sweatshop owner Susie Tompkins-Buell, or from campaign finance violator Norman Hsu, and twice as much as Udall received from jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Just trying to put things in perspective.