Free Republic

NEWARK -- Two days after a relatively calm and cordial first debate, three Democratic hopefuls vying for their party's nomination to succeed Chris Christie as New Jersey's governor unleashed fury on front-runner Phil Murphy, whom they accused of trying to buy the nod from party bosses. Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and ex-Goldman Sachs executive who has spent more than $15 million so far on his campaign, was assailed by rivals Jim Johnson, Raymond Lesniak, and John Wisniewski on Thursday night during the second and final Democratic primary debate before voters cast ballots June 6.

The Subprime home mortgage collapse...a Primer. It's ALL about the CRA of 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 - This required banks to offer credit throughout their entire market area for “underserved” populations and small businesses. The CRA gave incentives to help low income borrowers become “home owners”. Liberals call this group “low income borrowers”. Conservatives call them a RISK!The CRA was passed by the Carter administration. In 1995 the Clinton administration authorized subprime loans under the CRA. Democrats added these provisions for the securitization of subprime loans and then ENFORCED the lending to high risk individuals. By 2000,...

PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Johnson, whose attacking defenses helped the Philadelphia Eagles to one Super Bowl appearance and five NFC title games, has died. He was 68.

Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs): An Institutional Overview is one of thousands of documents recently made available on WikiLeaks. A veritable myriad of Congressional Research Service documents offer startling glimpses into the scale and scope of government intrusion in the free markets. Why Did Congress Create GSEs? GSEs were not created for the purpose of expanding home ownership by lower- and middle-income members of the public. Rather, Congress established GSEs "to improve the efficiency of capital markets" and to overcome "statutory and other market imperfections which otherwise prevent funds from moving easily from suppliers of funds to areas of high loan...

For most of my life I've been told that the government was to protect our rights and freedoms in the United States, how is it doing these days? Not well as I see it and here's why: Socialist government now is to raise us all from cradle to grave so we can all be equally unhappy. Government now knows best what to do with your money; you are too ignorant! Do you really want this government to run your health care? They tried to run the mortgage industry, see where that got us - $800 trillion in debt and no...

The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles is investigating the so-called "Friends of Angelo" loan program at Countrywide Financial, under which influential borrowers received preferential terms on home loans. The reported borrowers under the program have included U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Franklin Raines, and California state appeals court judge Richard Aldrich. Today's Journal: Countrywide loans on preferential terms to influential figures are the subject of a federal grand jury investigation in Los Angeles, according to people involved in the inquiry. Prosecutors subpoenaed records of many of the so-called...

John McCain's campaign is under fire for his campaign manager's ties to Freddie Mac. Rick Davis's lobbying firm, it turns out, was still receiving monthly payments until very recently, despite previous assurances that the relationship had ended three years ago. Meanwhile, McCain is running television ads tying Sen. Barack Obama to Franklin Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who was forced out for misstating the company's earnings. Obama vigorously protests that Raines isn't really one of his advisers, though Raines had previously said that he advised the campaign. But McCain doesn't need to focus on Raines. Obama selected another Fannie...

Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson STILL advising Obama, Further this was reported by e-mail from Tom Daschle to Democrat insiders to see updates daily on political progress from the campaign, by Tom Daschel and Jim Johnson. Gibson also reported today that Franklin Raines was still advising Obama on housing! As you all well know that Jim Johnson was in charge of Fannie Mae with Franklin Raines. They also were paid very well with Johnson getting in excess of 20 million dollars and Franklin Raines getting 90 million dollars in executive pay.

Obama Against Severance For Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Except For His Friend Jim Johnson Obama, the second largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campsign contributions (second only to doddering Dodd) is shtupped his corrupt cronies with golden parachutes. OBAMA AGAINST SEVERANCE FOR FANNIE MAE FREDDIE MAC EXCEPT HIS FRIEND JIM JOHNSON Digital Press (hat tip Daryl) UPDATE: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problems started by democrat administration personnel. Two Senators receive more campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than all others from 1989-2008. Number 1 - Senator Chris Dodd, former 2008 Democrat candidate for President. Number 2...

Mike Reagan declared the runaway government bailout of Wall Street at taxpayers expense a "ROBBERY!" Los Angeles, Ca. - On his nationally syndicated radio show Reagan declared that the "Democrats Franklin Raines, Jim Johnson, Jamie Gorelick, Penny Pritzker, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, are robbing the American taxpayer, and Republicans in the House and Senate had been tapped to drive the getaway car. In a political system where well paid Democrat operatives can enrich themselves at the expense of the American people with zero downside, there is no incentive to behave properly, when the taxpayer will bail you out. Enough...

Yesterday we did an article on Time accusing McCain of playing the race card because their ad hit Frank Raines. One of the reasons mentioned was that McCain should've hit Jim Johnson of Fannie Mae instead. Well, McCain just hit Obama for this tie:

This is not an easy one for the Illinois senator because of the companies' close ties to his party. To be sure, both Republican and Democratic politicos have held well-paid positions in the two firms or have partaken of the tens of millions that they spend on lobbying. But a few Republicans, such as Mr. McCain and Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.), who has been chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, have taken them on over the years, warning about their use of an implicit government guarantee to pursue private profits. Meanwhile, Democrats were not only politically...

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Will there be a MORTGAGE-GATE controversy in the 2008 election? Judicial Watch has filed a complaint against the sweetheart deal that Senator Obama Barack has received in terms of a mortgage. So has Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT, who is chair of the Senate Banking Committee. One must ask the question are these two Democrats: are they Dumb, Dishonest, or both -- to have accepted these sweetheart mortgage deals for their personal life? Should the US Justice Department start investigating these politicians and others for such deals to receive favorable treatment in legislation now that the mortgage industry is in serious...

When it comes to charging abuse in markets like the mortgage business, American politicians, right up the ladder, should zip their lips. They're not ones to talk. That's becoming ever more painfully clear with reports like the one Thursday from Condé Nast Portfolio suggesting that several key pols got favored treatment on their personal mortgages. The lucky winners included folks like Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), plus several former Cabinet secretaries: ex-Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson; ex-Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala (who is to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday) and ex-UN Ambassador and...

Republican National Committee WASHINGTON, June 14 -- RNC Press Secretary Alex Conant released the following statement today: "Barack Obama's campaign of hypocrisy and finger pointing continues this morning. While Obama and Democrats launch attacks on Republicans, their silence concerning fundraisers like Jodie Evans and Jim Johnson is deafening. Obama's hypocritical attacks undermine everything his campaign is supposed to be about." Jodie Evans Is The Co-Founder Of The Radical Anti-War Group CODEPINK And Has Committed To Raise At Least $50,000 For Barack Obama: Evans Is A Bundler For Obama's Presidential Campaign And Has Committed To Raising $50,000 To $100,000. (Obama For...

Two influential US senators got "VIP" loans from a subprime mortgage lender saving them tens of thousands of dollars. Democrats, Chris Dodd, Connecticut and Kent Conrad of NDakota, received highly favorable loans under "Friend of Angelo," a reference to embattled Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo, Condé Nast Portfolio reported. Dodd chairs the Senate Banking Committee; Conrad chairs the Budget Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. Others who received "FOA" loans include Alphonso Jackson, HUD Secy under Pres Bush ( resigned in April), and Donna Shalala, Clinton's HHS secretary. The report came one day after Democratic heavyweight Jim Johnson...

On Tuesday, Barack Obama faced the glare of the cameras and tried to deal with what was rapidly becoming one of those "distractions" he so despises. It turns out that the man he chose to head up the steering committee to help him choose a vice president, Jim Johnson, had a past that was making Obama out to be a hypocrite on the sub-prime mortgage crisis. After Obama skewered John McCain for his connections with sub-prime lenders, it appears that Mr. Johnson made McCain's connections look positively innocent by comparison. Johnson, Fannie Mae chief from 1991 through 1998, received more...

Jim Johnson, the just-departed adviser to Sen. Barack Obama who was leading the effort to screen vice presidential candidates, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, argues Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic: “In many respects, the times and the man just didn’t jibe. Johnson is extremely well-liked and well-respected, and is a Washington insider, and a man very much identified with mortgages. And Obama is an outside-Washington change guy. The veep choice is extremely important.” 0612perceptions_ssv_20080612072350.jpg Jim Johnson, leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill, Monday, in Washington. (AP Photo) Still, Ambinder wonders about the lingering questions: “Was...

James A. Johnson, a consummate Washington insider and former Fannie Mae chief executive, resigned yesterday from Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee, just four days after he was caught up in controversy over low-interest home loans and lucrative business deals. Obama announced that Johnson would head the selection team shortly after the senator from Illinois claimed the delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination, but he had spent much of the week since then defending Johnson's role as leader of the vetting of potential running mates. Yesterday, Johnson became a casualty in the back-and-forth over ties to special interests...