Posted on 10/14/2004 5:24:09 AM PDT by OESY
...Here's a case of misplaced moral outrage if we've ever seen one. Mr. Franks is mad about the salaries when he really should be mad at the rigged political game that has made them possible. Fannie's regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has reported that Fannie has been cooking its books. Add that to the increasing evidence that Fannie has been ignoring its mission to provide affordable housing, and we wonder if Mr. Frank doesn't need an eye checkup....
Maxine Waters (D., California) cooed all over Mr. Raines, and Clay Lacy (D., Missouri) played the race card by calling the hearings a "political lynching" of Mr. Raines, who is African-American. Are CEOs not supposed to be accountable simply because they're persons of color? By the way, Roger Barnes, the whistle-blower who was fired by Fannie after complaining about its accounting procedures, is also black....
To be sure, Mr. Franks is right that Fannie's executive compensation is rich by any standards. When a government-sponsored company pays its top 21 executives more than $1 million each in 2002 (and three of them are lobbyists), that fact does bear some reflection.
And, aside from the evidence that Fannie was cooking its books to trigger big bonuses, there's also the issue of performance. Mr. Raines's 2003 compensation was over $20 million. That's about $14 million more than the median for CEOs of very large companies. What did Mr. Raines do to deserve this giant sum? Not much. In the five years that Mr. Raines has been at the helm, Fannie's cumulative shareholder return, including reinvested dividends, has been 4% compared with the 23% achieved by the S&P financial sector.
The evidence is overwhelming that Fannie only pretends to be a tribune of the poor....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Reminds me of a certain political party...
it would be fun to see if any of the 21 donated to that political party and how much ... and when ... and what organizations they represent ....... or affliated with
The Dems were looking to Iraq to find their "boondogle"....look no further
We have found the boondogle and he is Fannie Mae
Ping!
Clinton holdovers (gag).
We shouldn't let go of Ms. Gorelick!!! (or Dan Rather)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.