Back in September, when Congress was debating the financial bailout, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News to decry how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had so “many politicians beholden to them” that no one would step up to protect American taxpayers.

The ousted heads of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have hired two of the nation’s best-regarded fixers to help them hold onto their golden parachutes.

In the wake of the federal government’s bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two presidential candidates are calling for reform. Yet both men have close connections to the mortgage giants.

H. Rodgin Cohen may not be well known away from Wall Street, but he would seem to be the first person called in times of bank failure, acquisitions or mergers.

Until a few weeks ago, it’s likely that many people would have guessed that Freddie Mac was comedian Bernie Mac’s younger brother.

GreenPoint Mortgage, the latest casualty of the mortgage meltdown, was once overseen by a director of Freddie Mac, the giant public company chartered by Congress to bolster home lending.

Thomas S. Johnson was elected to Freddie Mac’s board in 2004 when he was CEO of GreenPoint Financial, then parent of GreenPoint Mortgage. That year, GreenPoint Financial was acquired by North Fork Bancorp for $6.3 billion. Capital One acquired North Fork last year for $13.2 billion.