The article and video show that apparently Palin thinks Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac are government agencies, and that she can shrink them in hot water. No awareness is indicated that they have long ago been made into private corporations which her party and McCain in the Senate have failed to monitor and oversee. Her party's philosophy that the free market cures all ills and the government should butt out is what has led to this huge financial disaster, yet she seems uninformed. This seems to be becoming a question of what will she know and when (if ever) will she know it.

This opinion piece has no journalistic value. It already has been thoroughly fisked. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had already prior to 2008 received more than $10 billion in Federal money and tax breaks not open to the private sector. Gov. Palin was entirely correct in her statements. The author did not read up properly. He also neglected to point out that the Obama campaign is closely tied to the collapse of these organizations, as the worst offender, James Johnson, was put by Obama on his VP search team, and Franklin Raines and others are major party operatives.

Politician misspeaks, media pounces. It's interesting, if in fact the misstatement was due to lack of knowledge, but honestly, this would be a good story if it indicated a clear, ongoing lack of understanding of how the economy works.