THEY LOVE TALKING ABOUT E-BAY

Way back in 2004, Dick Cheney was invoking the Republican Good News Fairy by claiming that many people are making money selling things on E-Bay, so the economy actually is doing pretty good (h/t Garth):

Cheney defends invasion of Iraq
Posted 9/9/2004 9:42 PM
USA Today

Cheney also talked up the economy. He said national employment statistics miss many people who are making money, such as those selling items on eBay.

"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," he said. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay." It's unclear how many of those are making enough to support themselves.

A few years later, Karl Rove improved the story (h/t A Tiny Revolution):

Party Unfaithful
The Republican implosion.
by Jeffrey Goldberg
June 4, 2007
The New Yorker

Rove thinks that more voters now are being influenced by technology and religion. “There are two or three societal trends that are driving us in an increasingly deep center-right posture,” he said. “One of them is the power of the computer chip. Do you know how many people’s principal source of income is eBay? Seven hundred thousand.” He went on, “So the power of the computer has made it possible for people to gain greater control over their lives. It’s given people a greater chance to run their own business, become a sole proprietor or an entrepreneur. As a result, it has made us more market-oriented, and that equals making you more center-right in your politics.”

So, McCain's mistake about Palin selling the state plane on E-Bay is understandable. Will we know see Fannie and Freddie Mae on E-Bay?

U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants
By STEPHEN LABATON and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: September 5, 2008
NY Times

WASHINGTON — Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday called in top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and told them that the government was preparing to place the two companies under federal control, officials and company executives briefed on the discussions said.

The plan, which would place the companies into a conservatorship, was outlined in separate meetings with the chief executives at the office of the companies’ new regulator. The executives were told that, under the plan, they and their boards would be replaced and shareholders would be virtually wiped out, but that the companies would be able to continue functioning with the government generally standing behind their debt, people briefed on the discussions said.