Look For Links To Obama's Team and Fannie/Freddie Problems

[Kathianne]

MFM was so nice giving us a heads up on the scandal brewing at the Interior Dept. Thought I'd do the same for his side.

Interestingly enough, Jamie Gorelick is once again involved, though as far as I know, she isn't on Obama's Team.

[Kathianne]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/30411


Whoops!
Jennifer Rubin - 09.15.2008 - 10:09 AM

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac survived scrutiny by manipulating, cajoling, and lobbying politicians and hiring board members who were politicos (e.g. Jamie Gorelick) rather than mortgage gurus. They hired lobbyists, gave massive donations, obtained nice tax breaks, and sailed below the regulatory radar screen.

Of the 354 lawmakers who received money from Freddie and Fannie between 1989 and 2008, Sen. Chris Dodd received the most. But next was . . . drumroll . . . Barack Obama. Yup. And he was only there for three years. Not too much went to John McCain, about a sixth of what Obama received (h/t Glenn Reynolds.)

But, you say, maybe all the Fannie and Freddie employees who gave money just “liked” Obama. That might make sense with ordinary institutions. But these two had a game plan to influence and sway lawmakers for the purpose of keeping them on the government gravy train and out of the regulatory line of fire. It’s no coincidence that they “liked” Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd best of all.

So it would appear that this is precisely what Obama has been railing against: Washington insiders lining the pockets of other Washington insiders while the taxpayers ultimately have to foot the bill. The Agent of Change, it seems, didn’t exactly walk the walk on this one.

BTW, still no mention of his 'players' that were involved, but it's coming...

[Abbey Marie]

Obama in pics:

http://polvo.org/oct07/H-card-front.jpg


http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff302/slypuck2/ObamaChange.jpg

[retiredman]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/30411



BTW, still no mention of his 'players' that were involved, but it's coming...


I can hardly wait. You'll be sure to let us all know when it arrives, won't you?

[Kathianne]

I can hardly wait. You'll be sure to let us all know when it arrives, won't you?

Of course. As I said, I appreciated the heads up regarding the Interior Dept., scandal and will do the same. This one though appears to be developing with more rapidity.

[crin63]

You have to know that Dems got allot of money out of those 2 financial institutions because they aren't screaming like they did with Enron.

It seems more like they got out of the broom, picked up the edge of the carpet and started sweeping.

[Kathianne]

Expect fallout:


http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/024380.php




September 15, 2008

MEGAN MCARDLE: "Obama is seeking to blame the current crisis on the Bush Administration. This is high-test hooey. This was not some criminal activity that the Bush administration should have been investigating more thoroughly; it was a thorough, massive, systemic mispricing of the risk attendant on lending to people with bad credit. (These are, mind you, the same people that five years ago the Democrats wanted to help enjoy the many booms of homeownership.) Lehman, Bear, Merrill and so forth did not sneakily lend these people money in the hope of putting one over on the American taxpayer while ruining their shareholders and getting the senior executives fired. They got it wrong. Badly wrong. So did everyone else. . . . This kind of foolish grandstanding is not the change we need. It's just more of the same."

Given Obama's close connections to Fannie Mae and Lehman, he shouldn't press this issue too hard.
posted at 09:18 PM by Glenn Reynolds

[Kathianne]

Lots to look at here, wonder if there will be an 'investigation'?

http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2008/09/the_best_congre.html



September 15, 2008


The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy

This is a long and complicated story about how Obama backers were behind the mortgage industry meltdown. It hast to start some where, so lets start with a well known Chicago name Penny Pritzker. It starts with a bank failure.


Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for the 1,406 people who lost much of their life savings when Superior Bank of Chicago went belly up in 2001 with over $1 billion in insured and uninsured deposits. This collapse came amid harsh criticism of how Superior's owners promoted sub-prime home mortgages. As part of a settlement, the owners paid $100 million and agreed to pay another $335 million over 15 years at no interest.

The uninsured depositors were dealt another blow recently when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court decision to put any recovered money toward the debt that the bank owners owe the federal government before the depositors get anything.

But this seven-year-old bank failure has relevance in another way today, since the chair of Superior's board for five years was Penny Pritzker, a member of one of America's richest families and the current Finance Chair for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, the same candidate who has lashed out against predatory lending.

Yeah, that ∅bama. A man who stands up for the little guy. After his friends have kicked them down.


Though Superior Bank collapsed years before the current sub-prime turmoil that is rocking the world's financial markets - and pushing those millions of homeowners toward foreclosure - some banking experts say the Pritzkers and Superior hold a special place in the history of the sub-prime fiasco.

"The [sub-prime] financial engineering that created the Wall Street meltdown was developed by the Pritzkers and Ernst and Young, working with Merrill Lynch to sell bonds securitized by sub-prime mortgages," Timothy J. Anderson, a whistleblower on financial and bank fraud, told me in an interview.

"The sub-prime mortgages," Anderson said, "were provided to Merrill Lynch, by a nation-wide Pritzker origination system, using Superior as the cash cow, with many millions in FDIC insured deposits. Superior's owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds."

In other words, if you traced today's sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago.

Well, isn't that special. Kind of reminds you of ∅'s special friend Tony Rezko who worked the low income housing scam in Chicago. Small potatoes that Tony. He only destroyed millions in housing value. Pritzker was involved with trillions. But you know the Democrats really have a heart for the poor. As long as they can rob them blind.

OK we have a looked at one thief for ∅bama. How about another? James A. "Jim" Johnson,


James A. "Jim" Johnson, born in Benson, now lives on the top floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., with views of the Potomac and the Washington Monument. But you'll also find him in the inner circle of many of the nation's power groups.

In the last year, Johnson, who once was a member of an organization known as Friends of Hillary, has become tightly tied to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. It's Johnson's job to vet potential vice presidential candidates for Obama, a duty he also performed for Walter Mondale, who ended up running with Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and John Kerry, who ended up with John Edwards, four years ago.

Just a regular guy with lots of money? Maybe not so regular.

He was a backer of Walter Mondale in 1984.


Following the failed 1984 presidential bid, Johnson went about the business of making money. He joined with diplomat Richard Holbrooke in founding Public Strategies, which gave political advice to business clients. Later, he did similar work with Sherman Lehman in D.C. Holbrooke and Johnson remain together now, as vice chairmen of Perseus, an international merchant bank and private equity fund management company.

In 1990, Johnson went to work for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and quickly became its $5 million-a-year chairman. His compensation rose to a reported $21 million by his final year, 1998.

But Johnson did more than make a lot of money at Fannie Mae. He increased his connections -- and his access to power -- by establishing Fannie Mae foundations that spread around millions of dollars. Homeless shelters, colleges, hospitals all benefited from Fannie Mae Foundation money.

Well, what do ya know. Another ∅bama backer tied to the breakdown of the mortgage industry.

Which brings us to the Fannie Mae Foundation. A sweet little set up for handing out cash to a nice little outfit called ACORN among others. Here are a few of the grants to ACORN....

[PostmodernProphet]

Nobody has latched on to the biggest connection at all.....Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac were privatized under Lyndon Johnson and deregulated under Bill Clinton....the Dems won't have to look far to find out who carries the fault for their failure.....