Pawlenty Campaign Co-Chair Vin Weber, Former Top Lobbyist For Freddie Mac

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R-MN) quest for the White House has thus far failed to catch fire with voters or big money donors. In a potential bid to rake in donations from the financial sector, Pawlenty has begun demanding a repeal of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a set of reforms enacted last year to prevent another meltdown and guard consumers from abusive lending practices.

Pawlenty has suggested that blame for the financial crisis rests only with the “catastrophic scandal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” the two government sponsored mortgage giants. But for all his bluster about Freddie Mac, which required a massive bailout in 2008, Pawlenty had no problem making Freddie’s top government enabler a leader in his presidential campaign.

When he announced his campaign, Pawlenty tapped William Strong, a vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Vin Weber, a veteran K Street lobbyist, as his campaign co-chairs. And Weber is not just any corporate lobbyist.

According to a review by ThinkProgress, Weber represented Freddie Mac for an entire decade, from 1998 to 2008. The partnership between Freddie Mac and Weber ended in 2008 when, as part of the government bailout deal, Freddie Mac was barred from hiring lobbyists. For some of the period Weber represented the company, his firm was paid as much as $360,000 a year to lobby for Freddie Mac. As reports from the AP and MinnPost.com from 2008 reveal, Weber helped create the “catastrophic scandal” his boss Pawlenty now laments:

Former Minnesota congressman Vin Weber’s name shows up in an AP story today about how Freddie Mac fended off regulation over the years with the help of an army of lobbyists. [...] “I’ve seen the article, and it’s pretty much correct,” Weber said today.

Pawlenty’s double standard has shades of Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. At the time, McCain tried to deflect blame from the big banks and mortgage companies to only government-backed entities like Freddie and Fannie, as Pawlenty is now attempting. However, the New York Times reported that McCain’s campaign manager at the time, Rick Davis, had been paid $2 million by Freddie and Fannie to set up a lobbying front group. The major difference? Davis ended his work for Freddie Mac in 2005. Weber, Pawlenty’s co-chair, continued to push for bailouts and loopholes for the giant well until such lobbying was barred and a taxpayer rescue was secured.

Thursday morning, 5,000 Dallas residents in need of housing assistance showed up at the Jesse Owens Memorial complex early in the morning, hoping to be one of the lucky few to get a coveted spot on a waiting list for housing vouchers. Only 100 vouchers were available.

Some people had camped out since Wednesday night, and the line was at least a mile long. When hundreds of people suddenly sprinted for the doors, at least eight people were injured, and some say they feel lucky not to have been trampled to death:

When, at 6 a.m., officials said it was time to form a line, a frantic rush ensued — the latest sign of people’s desperation for help in tough times. There were no serious injuries, but video footage of the chaos received national attention.

“Once they said we could go on the property, it was a stampede, a circus,” said Adelia Frierson, a 24-year-old single mother applying for the federally funded assistance.

Zachary Thompson, the county’s director of health and human services, said the turnout once again demonstrates the need for the Housing Choice Vouchers, also known as Section 8. By the end of the day, about 5,000 households had applied. [...]

The hard-to-get vouchers pay a portion of the rent based on household income. This was the first time Dallas County had opened its waiting list since 2006, and applicants may have to wait at least two years to actually receive vouchers.

Watch it:

The incident is a sad illustration of lengths people will go to for even the chance of government assistance in such hard times. Health director Thompson acknowledged that, “a lot of times people are shocked there are so many people who are low income and need assistance. That’s just the reality of the economy we are living in.”

The crowd ranged from young single mothers with their children to senior citizens with nothing but a small Social Security income. Many applicants had jobs, but barely earn minimum wage.

Authorities have been pointing the finger of blame at one another since facing a mountain of criticism for letting the situation get out of hand and not having a better plan to accommodate the sheer number of voucher applicants.