Our money vs. their money

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You may have read recently that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the Feds, using taxpayer funds. OK, you DID read about that. It was hard to miss. And if you're an American taxpayer, that's your money.

What you might not have known about is that some of the people with personal funds invested in Fannie and Freddie were the same people that were involved with the takeover. Some more than others.

Remember that members of Congress disclose their financial data in ranges and not in absolute amounts, so we don't necessarily know the exact amount of holdings. Plus, these are data from 2007, and some people might have gotten out.

Of note: yup, John McCain has a "small" (for him) amount of money in Fannie and Freddie stocks and bonds. Somewhere south of $10,000. Whether or not he actually knows that is anybody's guess.

Now, the winner here, and someone who probably IS really aware of the loss, is Mary Bono. (Yup, widow of Sonny). She holds between $126,000 and $365,000 of these securities. Some members of the House Financial Services Committee, and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are also going to take a hit: Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) and Mike Enzi (WY), as well as Reps Carolyn McCarthy (NY) and Ron Klein (FL).

Full list here.