Yesterday, Congressman Tim Bishop followed the lead of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank and voted for a flawed piece of legislation which fails to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the twin Government Sponsored Enterprises that were the root causes of the housing meltdown and the ensuing financial crisis. To date, Fannie and Freddie have cost taxpayers $145 billion, a number which could grow to a staggering $380 billion.

A far more disturbing fact is that this legislation will be bad for New York State. It will force financial service firms to close or shrink New York based operations, sending jobs to other international financial centers like London, Dubai, Hong Kong or Singapore. It will kill jobs and shrink tax revenues for New York State.

Tim Bishop needs to explain to the voters why he voted for this flawed piece of legislation. If he really wanted to protect the taxpayers Tim Bishop would have insisted that Congress enact reforms to address the lack of oversight at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; pseudo government entities that have become a dumping ground for banks' bad loans and a patronage pit for allies of the Democratic Party. It seems pretty clear that Tim Bishop's first priority is protecting his entrenched political pals in Washington instead of New Yorkers and his constituents in Suffolk County.

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