Re: Three Obama-related executives earned millions in compensation from Fannie Mae.

[rattanakiri]

Senator McCain tried to tell the American people that he is an agent of Change.  However, he still cling to Bush/Cheney economic because he has to appease Sarah Pailin's crowds, the Republican base.  he was looking like grumpy old man channeling Alexander the Great, Henry Kissinger. He was rude, and talking down even he was wrong.  The debate may not be knock out for either candidate, but it showed that Obama is holding up on his own, he passes the threshold to be the President of the USA.    McCain did not really get anything out of it.  He looked old and grumpy...not presidential at all.  McCain almost went nuclear a couple times during the debate when he could not answer Obama attacks.   I am not surprised if his poll numbers will start to slide from now on. rattanakiri In Camdisc wrote: Three Democrats with close ties to Obama who served as Fannie Mae executives: Franklin Raines, former Clinton administration budget director; James Johnson, former aide to Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale; and Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton administration deputy attorney general. All three Obama-related executives earned millions in compensation from Fannie Mae. Johnson earned $21 million in just serving as Fannie Mae CEO from 1991 to 1998; Raines earned $90 million in his five years as Fannie Mae CEO, from 1999 to 2004; and Gorelick earned an estimated $26 million serving as vice chair of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2003 All three have been involved in mortgage-related financial scandals. In 1998, according to the Washington Post, Gorelick, as Fannie Mae vice chairman, received a bonus of $779,625, despite a scandal in which employees falsified signatures on accounting transactions to manipulate books to meet 1998 earning targets. The moves, in turn, triggered multi-million-dollar bonuses for top executives. Gorelick was embroiled in another controversy over an alleged conflict of interest when a 1995 memo she authored as deputy attorney general surfaced while she was a member of the 9/11 commission. The memo, which became known as the "Gorelick Wall," appeared to establish barriers that barred federal anti-terrorist criminal investigators from accessing various federal records and databases that may have assisted them in their criminal investigations. According to the Associated Press, Raines and several other Fannie Mae top executives were ordered in a civil lawsuit to pay nearly $31.4 million for manipulating Fannie Mae earnings over a period of six years to trigger their massive bonuses. Raines was also forced in the settlement to give up Fannie Mae stock options valued at $15.6 million. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Freddie Mac had engaged in accounting fraud from 2000 to 2002, imposing a $50 million fine on the company and on four executives fines for amounts ranging from $65,000 to $250,000. Raines currently advises Obama on housing policy. Johnson was appointed to head Obama's vice presidential selection committee, until a controversy concerning an alleged $7 millions in questionable real estate loans he received on favorable terms from failed sub-prime mortgage lender Countrywide Financial surfaced and forced him to step down. The decision by the U.S. Treasury to take over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could end up costing the U.S. taxpayer as much as $100 billion, although the extent of losses at the two giant mortgage companies remains to be determined. According to the Wall Street Journal, Freddie and Fannie own or guarantee about $5.2 trillion worth of mortgages. The riskiest loans held by Freddie and Fannie are known as "Alt-A" and sub-prime mortgages, worth about $780 billion, or about 15 percent of the total portfolio. The federal government takeover of Freddie and Fannie passes to U.S. taxpayers the contingent liability for failures in the entire $5.2 trillion loan portfolio held by the two mortgage giants. Over the past four quarters, Freddie and Fannie have suffered losses of about $14 billion, as the mortgage market has been hit by a wave of defaults and foreclosures not seen in the U.S. since the 1930s.   Obama has these connections with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jim Johnson and former Fannie Mae chairman and CEO Franklin Raines are part of Obama’s advisors. Franklin Raines stepped down after a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, which Obama’s calls on for advice on mortgage and housing policy matters. Jim Johnson was on Obama’s VP search and made millions from his Fannie Mae CEO job.   Obama hired these people who were a big part of the team that brought down Fannie Mae to be on his campaign. How come Obama has not fired these people yet? How can we trust Obama to help our economy when he hangs around people that would bring America and our economy down? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to camdisc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---