Election Day: Time to Cast Your Ballots!

- November 3, 2014

Election Day: Time to Cast Your Ballots!

Big day tomorrow – Election Day! We know it sounds a little pie-in-the-sky but this a big deal – the ability for any eligible citizen to walk into their polling place and freely cast their ballot for the candidate of his or her choosing. Think about all the places on this planet where that doesn’t happen, and you quickly understand how precious the right to vote is.

Many are debating whether the U.S. Senate will flip control to the Republicans. Regardless of what the pollsters predict, many of the elections will come down to the wire. As a response to many investors’ requests, we have put together a brief outlook on where politicians stand on issues relevant to Investors Unite: Where the incumbent Senators up for re-election stand on housing reform. The only true predictor of where someone stands is how they voted; the only vote record we have to point to is the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs vote last year on the Johnson-Crapo bill.

As a reminder, the Johnson-Crapo bill seeks to reform Fannie and Freddie but disregards shareholder rights as it seeks to liquidate the GSEs and create a new entity without regard for the rule of law, shareholder dividends or fair housing goals.

To that end, we’ve compiled the following information as a guide for you.

There are four members of U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee up for re-election.

The following voted against the bill, and for investor rights:

Sen. Jeff Merkely of Oregon

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island

The following voted in support of Johnson-Crapo, and against investor rights:

Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia

If you did not cast an absentee ballot or vote early (if allowed in your state), we urge you in the strongest words possible to go vote tomorrow.