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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
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Author:  Bob Webster
Bio: Bob Webster
Date:  October 4, 2008
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Topic category:  Other/General

Feral Media Ignore Venal Democrats, Pounce on McCain's Connections to Former Lobbyist

With an ever-increasing fever pace of overt support for Barack Hussein Obama's campaign, the feral Obama-media have pounced upon McCain's connection with a former lobbyist for Freddie Mac. But whose connections to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac morass are more damning? Barack Hussein Obama's or John McCain's?

Both Obama and McCain have ties to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac subprime mortgage crisis.

Obama's Ties to Scandal:

Franklin D. Raines:  Former CEO at Fannie Mae, Democrat Franklin D. Raines, left under the duress of an accounting mess he created, one that ultimately cost him $24.7 million and Fannie Mae $400 million in penalties. At the request of Obama's campaign, Raines provided Barack Hussein Obama advice regarding mortgage and housing policy this summer. These consultations occurred at the time Anita Huslin reported in The Washington Post that "... since he [Raines] stepped down as Fannie Mae's chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself." While CEO at Fannie Mae, Raines illegally coerced employees to falsify accounting to maximum his bonuses that led to compensation in excess of $90 million. 

James A. Johnson:  Democrat James A. Johnson is a Democrat Party activist and former CEO at Fannie Mae. He is an adviser to Barack Hussein Obama and was chosen to lead Obama's panel to choose a Vice Presidential running mate before being tossed under Obama's campaign bus along with Tony Rezko and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Dan Balz reported in The Washington Post that "Johnson is drawing fire over his jumbo home loans from Countrywide Financial, a major actor in the subprime mortgage mess, that may have been below market rates. The loans were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Johnson also has drawn criticism in the past for his role in generous compensation packages to executives of companies on whose boards he served." Johnson's his parting compensation (from Fannie Mae) totaled $21 million (rather than the $6 million that was publicly reported) for his role in the subprime crisis. Johnson was also part of an elite group that got more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial, another key player in the subprime mortgage meltdown (from The New York Post).

Obama's "Sweetheart" mortgage deal: : Shortly after his election to the US Senate, Barack Hussein Obama obtained a "sweetheart" mortgage deal from Northern Trust in Illinois to purchase his elite Georgian mansion in Chicago. As reported in the Tampa Bay Examiner, Obama "locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known in banker lingo as a 'super super jumbo.' Obama paid no origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest rates. Compared with the average terms offered at the time in Chicago, Obama's rate could have saved him more than $300 per month." The Washington Post explained why this "sweetheart" deal matters:  "... amid a national housing crisis, news of discounts offered to Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the banking committee, and Kent Conrad (D-N.D) by another lender, Countrywide Financial, has brought new scrutiny to the practice and has resulted in a preliminary Senate ethics committee inquiry into the Dodd and Conrad loans. Within Obama's presidential campaign organization, former Fannie Mae chief executive James A. Johnson resigned abruptly as head of the vice presidential search committee after his favorable Countrywide loan became public."

Obama's "contributions" from Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac:  On the basis of donations per year, Barack Hussein Obama received far more from Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac than any other politician ($42,116.33 per year). Sen. Hillary Clinton was a distant second receiving the relative paltry sum of $10,864.29 per year. (see chart).

McCain's Ties to Scandal:

Rick Davis:  Rick Davis was McCain's campaign manager from 2005 until August when he was replaced because the campaign was going nowhere. Freddie Mac paid a lobby/consulting firm co-owned by Davis $15,000 per month, presumably to lobby Congress on behalf of Freddie Mac. However, Davis has had no relationship or compensation from the firm since 2006.

Mark Buse:  Mark Buse is Chief of Staff at McCain's Senate office. He is not a member of the McCain campaign staff. Buse is a former lobbyist for ML Strategies and lobbied on behalf of Freddie Mac in late 2003 and 2004. ML Strategies was just one of 34 lobby firms hired by Freddie Mac in 2004. Subsquent to Buse's departure as a lobbyist, McCain made a strong appeal in Congress for tighter regulatory control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2005 and 2006. If Buse had been influencing Senator McCain, it must have been a positive influence on behalf of taxpayers, because McCain predicted the crisis that currently unfolded over the past month. McCain's efforts were thwarted by Democrats who strongly opposed tighter controls over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (their monetary and vote-getting playgrounds) on the basis that tighter regulatory controls were "racist" because they would hurt poor minorities who could not otherwise afford to purchase a home (because they were financially not viable as mortgage holders).

So which stories lead the Obama-media onslaught today?

Franklin Raines association with Obama's campaign and his pivotal role in mismanagement of Fannie Mae? Nope.

James Johnson's association with Obama's campaign and his role in mismanagment of Fannie Mae and sweetheart deals at Countrywide Financial? Nope.

Obama's sweetheart mortgage deal that no regular taxpaying citizen could obtain? Nope.

How about Obama's contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that far outstripped all others in Congress on a per year basis? Nope.

The Obama-media are concentrating on the past comparatively distant relationship of Rick Davis (former McCain campaign manager) and Mark Buse (former lobbyiest for Freddie Mac and McCain's Chief of Staff for his Senate office) whose activities terminate prior to McCain's strong appeal for tighter regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that was blocked by Democrats.

By any rational objective standard, Obama is up to his generous ears in the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac morass. Yet the feral Obama-crazed media look the other way and point their collective fingers at John McCain.

This is today's version of objective news. Except the only objective today's media have is to elect Obama and destroy capitalism.

Bob Webster
WEBCommentary (Editor, Publisher)

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Biography - Bob Webster

Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.

A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.


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