Democrats in the Back Pocket of Lehmen and Fannie Mae

[Vision]

TSR said that the administration was in Lehmen's back pocket. Since all of this money is tracked lets take a look at who got what.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Country-Wide, Lehman Brothers and the list goes on. All corrupt and all were able to keep federal regulators at bay till the end. So how did they do it? Well the first way you do it is lobby to keep Congress off your back and pay them enough to run interference for you. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave $200 million to politicians and partisan organizations with the vast majority going to Democrats and left wing think tanks. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) (By the way Dodd is the Chair of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee and was given a sweetheart loan from Country Wide), Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton being the top recipients. In some cases Senator Chuck Schumer is in the list as well.

While this is certainly a bi-partisan scandal, it is not a balanced one. Those who benefited the most by far are top Congressional Democrats like Dodd and Obama and left wing organizations.

Here is the list of politicians that Fannie and Freddie donated to. Just below is the list of the top 12 Senators who received money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which YOU paid for:

Dodd, Christopher J
S
CT
D
$165,400
$48,500
$116,900

Obama, Barack
S
IL
D
$126,349
$6,000
$120,349

Kerry, John
S
MA
D
$111,000
$2,000
$109,000

Bennett, Robert F
S
UT
R
$107,999
$71,499
$36,500

Bond, Christopher S 'Kit'
S
MO
R
$95,400
$64,000
$31,400

Shelby, Richard C
S
AL
R
$80,000
$23,000
$57,000

Reed, Jack
S
RI
D
$78,250
$43,500
$34,750

Reid, Harry
S
NV
D
$77,000
$60,500
$16,500

Clinton, Hillary
S
NY
D
$76,050
$8,000
$68,050

Conrad, Kent
S
ND
D
$64,491
$22,000
$42,491

Johnson, Tim
S
SD
D
$61,000
$20,000
$41,000

Carper, Tom
S
DE
D
$55,889
$31,350
$24,539


Nine Democrats and three Republicans. Folks this is why we need people who are willing to take on some in their own party. Obama told us that he was going to be different, that he wasn't the same old politics as usual. Not only is he more of the same, he is among the WORST and most flagrant of the same. Quasi-governmental organizations should NOT be engaging in any partisan activity period. It is easy to see who their favorite party and candidates are.

In the bail out bill that was passed by Congress, Republican Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina tried to offer an amendment to prevent taxpayer subsidized quasi-corporations like Fannie and Freddie from abusing the public trust by slicking the palms of politicians. The Democratic Leader Harry Reid refused to allow the amendment up for a vote (Link).

Now Let's move to Lehmen Brothers Here is the List. Here is the top 12 recipients of money in the Senate

Clinton, Hillary
S
NY
D
$409,980
$3,000
$406,980

Obama, Barack
S
IL
D
$395,574
$0
$395,574

Schumer, Charles E
S
NY
D
$181,450
$25,500
$155,950

Dodd, Christopher J
S
CT
D
$165,800
$25,400
$140,400

Lieberman, Joe
S
CT
I
$165,450
$10,000
$155,450

Kerry, John
S
MA
D
$151,664
$0
$151,664

McCain, John
S
AZ
R
$145,100
$1,000
$144,100

Lugar, Richard G
S
IN
R
$37,250
$12,000
$25,250

Reed, Jack
S
RI
D
$37,100
$7,500
$29,600

Lautenberg, Frank R
S
NJ
D
$34,100
$1,000
$33,100

Biden, Joseph R Jr
S
DE
D
$33,700
$0
$33,700

Feinstein, Dianne
S
CA
D
$32,100
$24,000
$8,100


Of the top 12, only two are Republicans. Take a special look at the top two, who took over double the amounts of cash than those immediately below them. John McCain is on the list but lets take history as a guide, Charles Keating, the wealthy banker, tried to buy influence with John McCain and it didn't help him much did it? It is easy to see who their favorite party and candidates are.

 

[Vision]

CONGRESS KNEW - Here is an OFHEO report form 2006 that warned of what was coming. McCain mentions this report (in a pre-release version) in his remarks. Here is a summary from the OFHEO saying:

The report details an arrogant and unethical corporate culture where Fannie Mae employees manipulated accounting and earnings to trigger bonuses for senior executives from 1998 to 2004.

A large number of Fannie Mae's accounting policies and practices did not comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The Enterprise also had serious problems of internal control, financial reporting, and corporate governance. Those errors resulted in Fannie Mae overstating reported income and capital by a currently estimated $10.6 billion.

Here is McCain's Bill and Statements:

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005
A bill to address the regulation of secondary mortgage market enterprises, and for other purposes. Here is the text of the bill.

Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE]
Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC]
Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
Sen. John Sununu [R-NH]

So now we know that at least TWICE Republicans saw this coming and tried to fix it, and twice the Democrats blocked it and what did Barack Obama and Joe Biden do to fix this - NOTHING.

HERE is the link to McCains remarks on the floor of the Senate. Here is an excerpt and read it CAREFULLY:

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) (2005) Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were "illusions deliberately and systematically created" by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

Lot's of blogs did some great research on this issue.
Hotair.com - Beltwaysnark.com - Hey Look National Review caught up with us today (we like you guys).

UPDATE VI: Look who was minding the store!

David Frum reports for the National Post:

The two institutions have long been run not by bankers but by retired political figures, predominantly Democrats. From 1991 to 1998, Fannie Mae was headed by James Johnson, a longtime aide to former Democratic vice president Walter Mondale. Johnson's successor, Franklin Raines, had served as budget director to Bill Clinton. Jamie Gorelick, vice chair of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2003, served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.

These figures have paid themselves impressive private-sector salaries. Johnson earned US$21-million in just his last year at Fannie Mae. Raines earned US$90-million for five years' work at Fannie Mae. Gorelick got US$26-million.

Franklin Raines was Clinton's former UMB Director, is a former CEO of Fannie May, was paid a total of $90 MILLION for his tenure at Fannie May, who was forced to resign due to a $6.3 billion accounting debacle he oversaw in 2004, and James Johnson former Vice-Chair of Fannie Mae and Managing Director of Lehman Brothers….. Raines and Johnson are the current economic advisors for Barack Obama. Raines was in charge when most of these high risk, sub prime rate loans were being given away; the primary catalyst to Fannie Mae's collapse. The people who oversaw the Country-Wide scandal were working for Obama as well. Here is a New York Times article with some good info on Raines.

In the mean Time Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that "the Democrats bear no responsibility for the current crisis". Real nice nancy - too bad the public record overwhelmingly proves otherwise.



UPDATE V: Obama Lied. Bush tried to get a Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae regulatory overhaul in 2003 - Democrats stopped it!

New York Times Excerpt:

September 11, 2003
New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

"The current regulator does not have the tools, or the mandate, to adequately regulate these enterprises," Mr. Oxley said at the hearing. "We have seen in recent months that mismanagement and questionable accounting practices went largely unnoticed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight," the independent agency that now regulates the companies.

"These irregularities, which have been going on for several years, should have been detected earlier by the regulator," he added.

"These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis," said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

Hat Tip to Hotair.com for the heads up on this 2003 piece. They comment further on this HERE. It is no secret that the Democrats and the Clinton Administration pushed mortgage lendors to make more high risk loans for "affordable housing" to help prop up the economy. Former Clinton Sec. of Labor Robert B. Reich has been making some talk show rounds saying the same thing and being critical of that policy. Hotair sounded off on this NYT story HERE.


UPDATE - See below: McCain and Palin Speak on the issue. McCain/Palin blame the corrupt system we expose here - Obama blames Bush and McCain. Obama left out that he took the big money from these people.

UPDATE II - Barack Obama campaign economic adviser James Johnson led a fierce lobbying campaign to fight reform of Freddie and Fannie. Link Here & Here and thanks to Instapundit for the headsup. Johnson is a former executive of Fannie Mae and Lehman Brothers…

Instapundit: "So it would appear that this is precisely what Obama has been railing against: Washington insiders lining the pockets of other Washington insiders while the taxpayers ultimately have to foot the bill. The Agent of Change, it seems, didn't exactly walk the walk on this one."

http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/corruption-you-can-believe-in-failed-sub-primes-and-mortgage-fraud-lendors-funneled-money-to-dodd-obama-the-most-fannie-freddie-gave-200-million-to-partisans-most-went-to-democrats-dodd-obama/