And here's a nother book providing an account of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's rise to power. It ain't pretty and it illustrates the power of sucessful lobbying. Here's more from NPR:
"Nothing before or since, in my judgment, has ever been as effective as their lobbying strategy," Baker says. "If you were a financial services industry lobbyist available for duty in the 1990s and you were not hired by Fannie or Freddie ... you were really not much of a player."
The Fannie Mae lobbying operation achieved legendary status on Capitol Hill. It was rumored they could cost you a committee assignment, or even your job.
Now, this is the point in the story where you'd expect to hear denials from Fannie Mae, saying the tales about their lobbying have been exaggerated. Not so.
"It was always an us against them," says Bill Maloni, Fannie Mae's chief lobbyist, who left the company in 2004.
Here's how he jokingly describes Fannie's approach to critics: "If you punch my brother I'll burn down your house. I want to kill them, bury them, and piss on their graves."
