Posted on 10/20/2009 5:27:06 PM PDT by markomalley
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present.
Towns’ action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns’s failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage’s reported sweetheart deals to VIPs.
For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled. Only Republicans showed up while Democrats chairs remained empty.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
repubs don’t control TV.
Culture of corruption BUMP!
Because republicans in congress, by nature, are cowards.
The stupid American people have sent spoiled, irrational children to Washington as their representatives.
A well placed sledge hammer will pick any lock in existence.
...out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren't present. Towns' action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns's failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage's reported sweetheart deals to VIPs. For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled. Only Republicans showed up while Democrats chairs remained empty.
I think you’re giving the Pubbies way too much credit.
I hope you’re right but....
In June 2008, Condé Nast Portfolio disclosed the names of five V.I.P.-loan recipients: Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad, former cabinet members Alphonso Jackson and Donna Shalala, and former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. The Wall Street Journal reported that James Johnson and Franklin Raines, both former C.E.O.’s of government-sponsored mortgage buyer Fannie Mae, received favorable rates.
Former Countrywide director Henry Cisneros, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration; former White House staffer Paul Begala, now a commentator on CNN; and Postmaster General John Potter. Countrywide also offered special discounts to Congressional staffers involved in housing issues.
Former C.E.O.’s William Esrey of Sprint, which teamed up with Countrywide to provide property information to homebuyers on their cell phones, and Bruce Karatz of KB Home, a leading homebuilder that refers customers to Countrywide for mortgages.
A typical case example of the "Friends of Angelo" program:
In January 2004, Richard Aldrich, a California state appeals court judge, decided to refinance his 8,200-square-foot house next to a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at the Sherwood Country Club in Westlake Village. He turned to a prominent Sherwood member: Countrywide Financial chief executive Angelo Mozilo.
Aldrich’s application was assigned to a loan officer named Robert Feinberg; the judge was seeking a $1 million loan and a $900,000 line of credit. By email, Feinberg alerted Mozilo that the credit line was “above what guidelines allow.” Mozilo responded, “Go ahead and approve the loan, and close it as soon as possible. Don’t worry about this deal, it’s golden.” Countrywide further waived half a point, or $5,000 on the million-dollar loan. (Homebuyers can reduce their interest rates by paying points, which are equal to 1 percent of the value of a loan.)
That wasn’t Aldrich’s only contact with Countrywide. At the time he refinanced, a class action lawsuit against Countrywide was pending before the appellate court, brought by borrowers contending that the company offered an inadequate payment to settle allegations that it charged excessive fees for credit reports. That August, Aldrich was part of a three-judge panel that unanimously rejected the borrowers’ appeal.
According to a person familiar with the case, Aldrich did not disclose his relationship with Countrywide to the plaintiffs or offer to recuse himself. California’s judicial code of ethics states that judges cannot accept gifts or favors from donors “whose interests have come or are reasonably likely” to come before them, nor can they take out a loan at better terms than are available to other borrowers. Reached by phone, Aldrich denied receiving a below-market loan and hung up.
According to Feinberg and company documents, V.I.P.’s nearly always received better deals than those available to most borrowers. Countrywide often waived up to two points and eliminated fees amounting to hundreds of dollars for underwriting, processing, and document preparation. Internal company emails often referred to these fees as “junk” or “garbage.” If interest rates fell while a V.I.P. loan was pending, Countrywide provided a free float-down to the lower rate, eschewing its usual charge of half a point. Some V.I.P.’s who bought or refinanced investment properties were given the lower interest rate reserved for primary residences. Because Mozilo informally preapproved his F.O.A.’s, many of them barely bothered to document their assets and enjoyed exceptions to normal procedures or shortcuts around them.
In 2002, Mozilo tried to snag a senator he anticipated might become the biggest V.I.P. of all: a U.S. president. On December 11, Peter Segal, a Washington real estate lawyer who worked closely with Countrywide, alerted Mozilo by email that he represented the seller of a $3.8 million Georgetown home that North Carolina Senator John Edwards was buying. Segal told Mozilo that he had encouraged Edwards to contact Stephen Brandt, who oversaw Countrywide’s V.I.P. loans. There was just one problem: The senator needed to close by December 23. “The timetable is ambitious, but he is a future presidential candidate and I think we [ought] to stretch for him,” Segal wrote.
Mozilo pounced. “Edwards will probably be either the vice pres or pres candidate for the Democrats for 2004,” he informed Brandt via email. “Do whatever it takes to get it closed by the 23rd and call me for the pricing.”
In 2005, it spent $1.5 million lobbying the federal government, more than five times its 2000 level and about the same as mortgage and banking giant Wells Fargo. At the time, Countrywide was backing legislation for national lending standards and opposing a plan to shrink its federally sponsored business partners Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
To gain access and “keep their edge,” says retired managing director Sidney Lenz, who oversaw government relations for Countrywide, the company’s lobbyists identified potential customers on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies and directed them to the V.I.P. program. The company’s lobbyists were “incredibly receptive” to loan requests from officials, she says, and it paid off. “Countrywide had an incredibly good relationship with Congress. It was not unusual for us to get a call saying, ‘A bill’s being introduced. It’s a little technical, and there are parts we don’t understand. Can you help educate us on this?’ ”
Federal rules prohibit members of Congress and their staff from accepting preferential loans, and many officials and employees elsewhere in government face similar restrictions. Senate rules bar members and staff from knowingly accepting gifts of $100 or more in a given year or any gifts from companies that, like Countrywide, employ registered lobbyists; gifts include loans on terms that are not available to the general public. Countrywide’s ethics code bars directors, officers, and employees from “improperly influencing the decisions of government employees or contractors by offering or promising to give money, gifts, loans, rewards, favors, or anything else of value.”
Nevertheless, Jimmie Williams, a Countrywide lobbyist in Washington, was remarkably candid in emails about the purpose of V.I.P. loans. In November 2002, for instance, Williams urged Feinberg’s boss, Doug Perry, to give “specialized handling” to an application from a staff lawyer for the House subcommittee that monitors the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD regulates real estate settlements and closing costs and runs the Federal Housing Administration, the agency that guarantees mortgages. Williams pointed out that Clinton Jones III, senior counsel of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, was “also an adviser to ranking Republican members of Congress responsible for legislation of interest to the financial services industry and of importance to Countrywide.”
Perry then emailed Feinberg: “Can you please handle this? .5 off. No garbage fees.”
In March 2004, Williams sought a V.I.P. loan for the top aide of a Democratic congressman from North Carolina who was raising concerns about deceptive lending to low-income homebuyers. Williams asked Perry, “Could you please assist Joyce Brayboy, chief of staff to Congressman Mel Watt, with a loan?” Brayboy was considering choosing another lender, he wrote, but “would like to see if Countrywide has a better product.... Joyce reports directly to Congressman Mel Watt, who introduced predatory-lending legislation to address unscrupulous lending practices, and they do view Countrywide as a trusted adviser.”
Now senior vice president for the Glover Park Group, a communications consultancy, Brayboy says she “never applied for” and has “never had a mortgage loan with Countrywide, and certainly never had a discussion with anyone about getting special treatment.”
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala received two loans with rates floated down in 2002.
Clinton White House staffer Paul Begala borrowed $484,500 to refinance his McLean, Virginia, home in 2002, but he says he didn’t seek special treatment.
Richard Holbrooke, who was an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, also garnered V.I.P. loans, as did his family. Countrywide waived at least 1.25 points, or $15,000, on Holbrooke’s $1.2 million loan in 2003 to refinance a vacation home in Telluride, Colorado. “Per Angelo this loan is to be at zero points,” Perry wrote.
Holbrooke’s wife, author Kati Marton, borrowed a total of $1.4 million to refinance two properties. “These loans are incredibly important to Angelo and as such they are incredibly important to us,” Perry emailed Feinberg.
Holbrooke’s son, David, received a half-point discount, or $2,800, on a $559,500 loan when he and his wife refinanced their co-op in a Brooklyn, New York, high-rise, and five-eighths of a point, or $2,600, off when they bought the floor above it.
Perhaps countrywide’s most troubling V.I.P. loans went to Democratic Senators Dodd and Conrad. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd is at the forefront of efforts to remedy the housing crisis. In May, he introduced a foreclosure-rescue bill that would extend up to $300 billion in government-backed loans to struggling borrowers if lenders forgave a portion of their debt. Conrad chairs the taxation subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, which often considers proposals affecting Countrywide, such as tax credits for first-time or low-income homebuyers.
On June 13, Dodd issued a statement that he did not know about the favorable treatment and “did not seek or expect any.” Four days later, he reversed himself, acknowledging that he knew Countrywide had placed him in a V.I.P. program. He said that he and his wife “assumed” it was “more of a courtesy” and that he had “negotiated a mortgage at a competitive rate, a prevailing rate.”
However, Dodd received discounts on at least two of the transactions, Countrywide documents show. In 2003, he borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. When he applied, Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, or about $700, on the second. With that pricing built in, the interest rate on the loans, originally 4.875 percent, was reduced to 4.25 percent on the Washington home and 4.5 percent on the Connecticut property.
Feinberg says that he spoke to the senator once or twice and frequently emailed or talked to Jackie Clegg, Dodd’s wife. Clegg says that she can’t recall whom she communicated with at Countrywide and that two other banks offered comparable rates.
Like Dodd, Conrad was slow to acknowledge his witting participation in the V.I.P. program. Initially, the North Dakota Democrat said in a statement that he had “no way of knowing” how Countrywide categorized his loan and that he “never asked for, expected, or was aware of any special treatment.” But during an interview, he acknowledges, “I knew I was at a V.I.P.-employees unit. I thought that meant I was getting good service. Maybe I was naive.”
In March 2004, Conrad wanted to refinance his vacation home. The senator, who says he felt cheated by a mortgage broker during a prior refinancing, consulted James Johnson, an old friend who, he says, “knew more about mortgages than anybody I know.” When he called Johnson, the former Fannie Mae C.E.O. said, “Kent, I’m sitting with a guy you should talk to,” and handed the phone to Mozilo, who was glad to help.
Feinberg emailed Mozilo on March 17: “I have spoken with Kent Conrad and he wants to refinance to a 15-year mortgage. The rate we are looking at is a 4.875% and it has a one-point charge.” Mozilo replied, “Take off one point,” and Feinberg complied. Since Conrad borrowed $1.07 million, one point equaled $10,700.
A month later, Conrad was back in touch, seeking to refinance an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. Since Countrywide normally made loans only for buildings of four or fewer units, Feinberg consulted Mozilo. “I did advise [Conrad] that I would check with you first,” Feinberg wrote.
“Please speak directly to Dave Spector,” Mozilo replied, referring to the senior managing director for secondary marketing. “See if he can make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a Senator.” Spector then authorized the loan, according to emails.
In 2003, using V.I.P. loans for nearly $1 million apiece, Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s chairman and C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, twice refinanced his seven-bedroom home, which has a pool and movie theater. What hasn’t been reported is that on the day Raines applied for one loan, his assistant left a message with a Countrywide receptionist: “Per Angelo, Frank needs to refi.” Perry notified Feinberg, “One point off, no junk.” Fannie Mae’s code of conduct prohibits directors from using their position to receive “improper personal benefits.”
Is that even legal?
Shoot....they could go to a Holiday Inn if they really want to meet and get some work done!
What about the transparency?
That sounds familiar.....
"He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. "
And a few more while I'm thinking about other things.....
"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. "
"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:"
"In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. "
Well, shut my mouth.. I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you!
And when the Repubs had a House majority from 1994 to 2006, to realize that the stupid party Pubbies out of the stupidity & naivete of their own pathetic lame brain minds, caved into the demoRATs demands that all House committees should be shared & equal representation, 50/50. And that is a major reason why the demoRATs were able to effectively block & hold in committee up any bills they opposed, and thereby prevented the bills from passing out of committee to a majority House vote. What stupid imbiciles!!! Hey Pubbies, how is that genteel, civil, polite decorum working out for you these days!!! What frikkin idiots. We are ruled by incompetents & imbeciles and outright anti-American aocialist commie pigs. I hate em all except for the bona fide conseratives.
That pretty much says it all.
Delay Deny Stall and Divertum .. a Washington law firm or the DemRats MO.
Beyond that, why the hell does a Congressman have the ability to lock a door in a public office building? Hell I work on a USAF base and I sure as hell cannot lock a door, thats what the building manager does!
I shall go ahead and ask my majority if they are locked out. It’s a yes or no answer. If they are then I will explain to them they lose. I don’t take it lightly.
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