Re: Rahm and Freddie [Stephen Spruiell]

That Tribune story didn’t contain a great deal of new information for those who have been paying attention, but I did find this bit interesting:

The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel’s time as a director. The documents, obtained by Falcon for his investigation, were “commercial information” exempt from disclosure, according to a lawyer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

That’s the real hypocrisy. It would be funny to see Emmanuel hoisted by the petard of misdirected outrage, but the real issue is not bonuses, it is the uneconomic hamstringing by congress, and the political appointees of Fran and Fred who deserve the ire.

Vashta.Nerada on March 26, 2009 at 1:47 PM

Vashta Nerada: It would be funnier is Emanual were hoisted by his leotard for his outrageous misuse/abuse of power.

This thread deserve much more traffic. The blatancy of the past thuggery by this administration’s power brokers and by too many of the Dem lawmakers is beyond conscionable.

Why not go after some of the people really responsible for the collapse

Why indeed. But don’t let that discourage you Ed. Keep up the pressure. You have a national and world audience that needs to hear this story. You are not just preaching to the choir here. Every time you post stuff like this, I pass it along to my friend who needs to read this.

A smart man is never greedy and a greedy man is never smart.

In 1997, the New York Times’ Richard W. Stevenson pinpointed Fannie Mae’s strength when he wrote of the firm’s “influential network that extends from the highest reaches of the Clinton Administration to the ranks of conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill.”
The bipartisan network provided the essential cover Fannie Mae needed to run its scam, which the news pages of the Washington Post ably described this week as:
[T]he nearest thing to a license to print money. The companies borrowed money at below-market interest rates based on the perception that the government guaranteed repayment, and then they used the money to buy mortgages that paid market interest rates.
The key to Fannie Mae’s survival was the patronage operation it ran. As Wall Street Journalreporter James R. Hagerty wrote two summers ago, “For years, high-level jobs at Fannie Mae were lucrative prizes for lawyers, bankers and political operatives waiting for their next U.S. government post.”

http://www.slate.com/id/2200160/

When will Rahm Emanuel give back the money?

Uh try like NEVER!

In 1999, he returned to Fannie Mae as CEO, “the first black man to head a Fortune 500 company.”[3]
On December 21, 2004 Raines accepted what he called “early retirement” [4] from his position as CEO while U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators continued to investigate alleged accounting irregularities. He is accused by The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), the regulating body of Fannie Mae, of abetting widespread accounting errors, which included the shifting of losses so senior executives, such as himself, could earn large bonuses [5].
In 2006, the OFHEO announced a suit against Raines in order to recover some or all of the $90 million in payments made to Raines based on the overstated earnings [6] initially estimated to be $9 billion but have been announced as 6.3 billion.[7].
Civil charges were filed against Raines and two other former executives by the OFHEO in which the OFHEO sought $110 million in penalties and $115 million in returned bonuses from the three accused.[8] On April 18, 2008, the government announced a settlement with Raines together with J. Timothy Howard, Fannie’s former chief financial officer, and Leanne G. Spencer, Fannie’s former controller. The three executives agreed to pay fines totaling about $3 million, which will be paid by Fannie’s insurance policies. Raines also agreed to donate the proceeds from the sale of $1.8 million of his Fannie stock and to give up stock options. The stock options however have no value. Raines also gave up an estimated $5.3 million of “other benefits” said to be related to his pension and forgone bonuses.[9]
An editorial in The Wall Street Journal called it a “paltry settlement” which allowed Raines and the other two executives to “keep the bulk of their riches.” [10] In 2003 alone, Raines’s compensation was over $20 million.[11]
A statement issued by Raines said of the consent order, “is consistent with my acceptance of accountability as the leader of Fannie Mae and with my strong denial of the allegations made against me by OFHEO.”[12]
In a settlement with OFHEO and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fannie paid a record $400 million civil fine. Fannie, which is the largest American financier and guarantor of home mortgages, also agreed to make changes in its corporate culture and accounting procedures and ways of managing risk. [13]
In June 2008 The Wall Street Journal reported that Franklin Raines was one of several public officials who received below market rates loans at Countrywide Financial because the corporation considered the officeholders “FOA’s”–”Friends of Angelo” (Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo). He received loans for over $3 million while CEO of Fannie Mae. [14]

Again, where is the outrage?

Better yet, where is the money?

When Will Pres. Obama(D) Return His $101,332 AIG Campaign Contribution?

$320,000+ and stock options for 6 days work. Sweeeeeet!

sdd on March 26, 2009 at 1:51 PM

Of course we all know it was a money laundered payoff for influence peddling, past, present and future.

Its actually the home of Stanley Greenberg, democratic pollster extraordinaire.

Rahm Emanuel is so chest deep in corruption, he’s basically exporting Chicago to Washington. Oh wait, that’s what Obama is doing……..too.

I wonder how long it will take for the dead head American electorate to wake up?

And how many homeless could eat like kings with the bonuses taken by Raines and Gorelick?

whitetop on March 26, 2009 at 1:36 PM

I’m guessing quite a few wagyu steaks could be bought with the $90 million bonus paid to FM fraudster (and Obama adviser) Franklin Raines, not to mention the $25 million bonus paid to FM fraudster (and Obama adviser) Jamie Gorelick, for their “work” at FM.

Get busy ACORN. Oh wait, I forgot, you’re not interested in picketing their houses or threatening the lives of their children, because they’re Democratic crooks. Never mind.