Posted on 09/16/2008 11:13:35 AM PDT by markomalley
John Lennon once sang that "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." So, it seems, is politics.
The news this morning that two of Wall Street's most storied firms, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., were following their distinguished former competitor Bear Stearns toward extinction was met with misery and fear in living rooms and conference rooms across the country--and rightly so. "The biggest reshaping of the financial industry since the Great Depression," wrote Bloomberg News. "Catastrophe," added the New York Post. But something tells me that Barack Obama's brain trust didn't react quite so pessimistically. For two weeks, Chicago has struggled to stay in the news as John McCain and Co. have distracted the nation--or, more accurately, the nation's newspapermen, magazinists, on-air bloviators and blogospheric scavengers--with a lot of yadda about lipstick, pigs and kindergarten sexcapades. But today's massive financial shakeup finally gives us a more important topic to obsess over: the economy. For Obama, this disastrous news is a huge opportunity--a chance not only to be heard addressing an issue that matters, but also to pivot away from a losing message to one that could actually win him the election.
(snip)
That's why today's tragic economic crisis is such a political godsend for Obama--because it changes the subject. This morning, McCain told rallygoers Jacksonville, Fla., that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Noting how starkly McCain's message clashed with the bleak news from Wall Street, delighted Democrats immediately seized on his slip as evidence (along with his inability to remember how many houses he owns and his statement that only those who make over $5 million are rich) that the Republican nominee is "out of touch" with the economic concerns of average Americans, a group of people his
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.newsweek.com ...
On the other hand, if he can make a compelling argument that the economic issues are being caused by a financial market that primarily contributes to Democrats (see opensecrets.org for substantiation), led by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose number one beneficiary is Barrack Hussein Obama, then this current economic situation could blow Obama out of the water.
Is McCain smart enough? Is he gutsy enough?
Rush said today that the CEO of Fannie Mae from 1999-2005 used to work in the Clinton Administration. This guy was compensated $100,000,000 between ‘99 and ‘05. He had to leave in 2005 because of ethical issues.
Rush says we need to tie the financial collapse to the Clinton years. That that’s when the seed was planted.
In other words, what’s bad for the country is good for Democrats. By the way, isn’t this Raines guy on Obama’s campaign payroll?? Isn’t he the former head of Fannie Mae, the guy who looted it for over $100 million in salary per year?
Newsweak? LOLOL
Yes.
Franklin Delano Raines (born January 14, 1949 in Seattle, Washington) is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae who served as White House budget director under President Bill Clinton.
In 1991 he became Fannie’s Mae’s Vice Chairman, a post he left in 1996 in order to join the Clinton Administration as the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where he served until 1998. In 1999, he returned to Fannie Mae as CEO, “the first black man to head a Fortune 500 company.”
On December 21, 2004 Raines accepted what he called “early retirement” 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.
In 2003 alone, Raines’s compensation was over $20 million.
More...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines
April 22, 2008
Big changes for Franklin Raines. The former chief executive finally closed the book on his controversial stint at Fannie Mae . . . and is selling his house, getting a divorce and has a new girlfriend.
Last week, Raines settled a civil lawsuit with the feds by agreeing to pay $24.7 million, ending more than three years of legal wrangling over accounting shenanigans at Fannie Mae. Raines admitted no wrongdoing; he now sits on the board of Steve Case’s Revolution Health company.
He’s already moved on in his personal life, too. We’ve learned that Raines and his wife of more than 25 years, Wendy Farrow Raines, have been separated for more than a year. Beechwoods, the 1910 colonial they shared with their three daughters in Forest Hills — the site of their huge annual Christmas party — went on the market last month for $8.25 million. The seven-bedroom, seven-bath property (movie theater, pool and cabana, tennis court) was assessed at $3.2 million last year.
Raines, 59, is dating Denise Grant, a partner at the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. The 43-year-old lawyer served with Raines as vice president and assistant to the chairman of the Fannie May Foundation; she also worked in private practice and as counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Rush has been talking about it today, but it has been WELL known for months that former Clintonistas — and Obama-bin-Biden campaign chairs — are firmly entrenched in FNMA and “FreddieMac” and have been using it as their personal golden calf for years! Add to that the fact that Obam-uh-uh-uh is the #3 recipient of campaign cash from both organizations (the top 5 are DimoRATS, including Dodd, Hildebeast, ...).
Also, the Biden boys have THEIR hands deep in the bloody sub-prime mess!
*IF* Newsweek had done their due diligence (at which the Left Press seems inept), they would have found that the Wall Street mess is more of a hot potato than Obama-bin-Biden would dare start discussing, and thus CAN’T discuss!
This is a political GOLD MINE for McCain EVEN IF O-B-B doesn’t bring it up!
In June 2008 Wall Street Journal reported that Franklin Raines was one of several politicians 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.
-Wiki
Offhand, I can't think of anyone better than Romney in a high position as an appointee who could steer us through these troubled financial waters if anybody can.
Here's an article that traces it, in part, back to Clinton (some of this is too complicated for me), talks a lot about Fannie and Freddie:
How HUD Mortgage Policy Fed the Crisis
Excerpt: "In 1995, President Bill Clinton's HUD agreed to let Fannie and Freddie get affordable-housing credit for buying subprime securities that included loans to low-income borrowers. The idea was that subprime lending benefited many borrowers who did not qualify for conventional loans. HUD expected that Freddie and Fannie would impose their high lending standards on subprime lenders."
Andrew Romano
Prior to his current assignment, Romano was a junior reporter in Newsweek’s New York headquarters contributing to the magazine’s National Affairs coverage. Since April 2006, he has campaigned with Al Franken, interviewed Paul McCartney, profiled the Howard Dean alums in charge of John Edwards’ and Barack Obama’s Internet campaigns.
He joined Newsweek as an intern in June 2004 after working as a stringer for New Jersey’s Trenton Times.
ummmm......because whatever is bad for America is good for Democrats???
Thanks a lot! That was very helpful. I was trying to remember his name.
“Is McCain smart enough? Is he gutsy enough?”
If he’s not, he is not worth voting for and I misspent my contribution to his campaign.
What is bad for America, is good news for them.
They are shameless in their hatred of our Republic's success.
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