Who is Franklin Raines? Who is Jim Johnson?

The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Meltdown - Who is Franklin Raines? Who is Jim Johnson?



Here is a piece about Franklin Raines, an Obama financial adviser.

Franklin Raines, CEO of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) from 1999-2004, is the individual most responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis. It was on Mr. Raines’ watch that Fannie Mae went bankrupt.

He was accused of manipulating earnings statements so he could be paid bonuses to which he was not entitled.
In July, Mr. Raines was interviewed by Anita Huslin, a business reporter for the Washington Post.

“In the four years since he 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,” Ms. Huslin’s story began. “He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health care companies and, more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing matters.”

But, there are others like Jim Johnson, former Fannie Mae Chairman who had to resign as head of Obama’s Vice Presidential search team.



More on Jim Johnson is here.

Jim Johnson Is The Former CEO Of Fannie Mae. (David A. Vise, “Fannie Mae Lobbies Hard To Protect Its Tax Break,” The Washington Post, 1/16/95)

“Jim Johnson, The Former Chairman Of Fannie Mae Who Was One Of Three Advisors Tapped By Democrat Barack Obama To Vet Vice Presidential Candidates, Resigned Today After Questions Were Raised About Favoritism He May Have Received From Countrywide Financial Corp.” (Johanna Neuman, “Barack Obama Advisor Jim Johnson Quits Under Fire,” Los Angeles Times, 6/12/08)

Johnson Remains A Bundler For Obama’s Presidential Campaign And Has Committed To Raising $100,000 To $200,000. (Obama For America Website, www.barackobama.com, Accessed 9/19/08)

Johnson Earned Large Bonuses At Fannie Mae Due To An Accounting Manipulation:


In 1998, Fannie Mae’s Earnings Were Manipulated, Which Resulted In “Maximum Payouts” To Executives Including CEO Jim Johnson. “As CEO of Fannie Mae, Johnson, a former chief of staff to Vice President Walter F. Mondale and chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center, was the beneficiary of accounting in which Fannie Mae’s earnings were manipulated so that executives could earn larger bonuses. The accounting manipulation for 1998 resulted in the maximum payouts to Fannie Mae’s senior executives — $1.9 million in Johnson’s case — when the company’s performance that year would have otherwise resulted in no bonuses at all, according to reports in 2004 and 2006 by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.” (Jonathan Weisman and David S. Hilzenrath, “Obama’s Choice Of Insider Draws Fire,” The Washington Post, 6/11/08)

Johnson Engineered An Effort To Lobby Politicians So That Fannie Mae Would Not Have To Pay Local Taxes To Washington, D.C.:


While Johnson Was CEO, Fannie Mae Did Not Have To Pay Washington D.C. Taxes Which Cost The City Hundreds Of Millions Per Year. “While Wall Street benefits from Fannie Mae’s prosperity, the District government does not. Fannie Mae, the biggest, most profitable company in Washington, is exempt from local income taxes. That exemption costs the cash-strapped D.C. government hundreds of millions of dollars a year.” (David A. Vise, “The Financial Giant That’s In Our Midst,” The Washington Post, 1/15/95)

“If Fannie Mae Were Required To Pay Taxes, It Would Wipe Out The District’s Budget Deficit.” (David A. Vise, “The Financial Giant That’s In Our Midst,” The Washington Post, 1/15/95)

Before Heading Fannie Mae, Johnson Was A Registered Foreign Agent For Lehman Brothers:


In The 1980s, Johnson Worked For Shearson Lehman Brothers. “In the early 1980s Johnson had already started his own Washington consulting company, Public Strategies, with his Carter administration colleague Richard Holbrooke. And now he followed Holbrooke to Wall Street as an investment banker at Shearson Lehman Brothers.” (Lloyd Grove, “The Big Chair,” The Washington Post, 3/27/98)

But, not a word on NBC about either of these two men with direct ties into the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, the financial crisis, the economic bailout plan being considered by Congress and Barack Obama. Not one word.

NBC News in the tank for Obama - all of the time.



http://flapsblog.com/2008/09/24/the-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-meltdown-who-is-franklin-raines-who-is-jim-johnson/



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Obama's Million Dollar Men pt.1

Obama’s Million Dollar Men From Fannie Mae - Who Are Franklin Raines, Tim Howard and Jim Johnson - How Big Were The Golden Parachutes - UPDATED
Posted on September 18, 2008 by mcauleysworld

Obama talks about greed on Wall Street - making those responsible account for their activities. Is that so? How about the Wall Street Big Shots Obama hired to work on his campaign - the very same big shots who brought Fannie Mae Down.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. He served as President Bill Clinton’s Budget Director. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae’s accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, “ Raines, who long defended the company’s accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn’t proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that “mistakes were made” and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company’s books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/02/23/DI2006022301805.html



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1vSqF9Hm7A&NR=1


Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_PVQGGTT
Raines left with a “golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Goverment filed suit against Raines when the depth of the acounting scandel became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ .

The Government noted, “The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner.” These charges were made in 2006.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/business/07fannie.html?ex=1323147600&en=14bcda881f8f1805&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/business/24fannie.html?ex=1306123200&en=86652ae7c0ac1479&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&scp=1&sq=Fannie%20Mae%20Eases%20Credit&st=cse

The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the mis-stated Fannie Mae profits. WHERE IS RAINES NOW ? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYI0mHWQeD8.

The wikipedia site has be rewritten - contact wikipedia for an explanation - or search the WEB to for articles on the rewrite.

http://mcauleysworld.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/obamas-million-dollar-men-from-fannie-mae-who-are-franklyn-raines-tim-howard-and-jim-johnson-how-big-were-the-golden-parachutes

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Sharp Words from McCain for Obama in N.M.

Battlegrounds

By Michael Abramowitz

ALBUQUERQUE -- Continuing the rapid-fire tit-for-tat of the campaign trail, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans a sharp new assault on Sen Barack Obama (D-Ill.) this afternoon for what he described as a yawning gap between his rhetoric and his record.

The alleged gap has been a feature of McCain's campaign speeches in recent days, but seldom expressed with the kind of vehemence employed today, when McCain complained that Obama calls him a liar anytime McCain raises questions about his policies or his record. "I don't need lessons about telling the truth to American people," McCain said, according to excerpts released by his campaign. "And were I ever to need any improvement in that regard, I probably wouldn't seek advice from a Chicago politician."

The two campaigns have been exchanging fire at an increasingly rapid pace, with the McCain camp focusing on Obama's association with onetime radical William Ayers and Obama now criticizing McCain's involvement in the Keating Five scandal of the early 1990s. In his speech this afternoon at the University of New Mexico, McCain plans to accuse Obama of thinking "he is above" having to answer questions about his record. "All people want to know is: What has this man ever actually accomplished in government?" McCain asks. "What does he plan for America? In short: Who is the real Barack Obama? But ask such questions and all you get in response is another barrage of angry insults."

As an example, McCain plans to point to the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that he called for tighter restrictions (in 2006) -- but was rebuffed by Democrats in Congress. He has accused Obama of being "silent" on the regulation of the two mortgage giants.

"To hear him talk now, you'd think he'd always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions," McCain will say. "But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them. Did he ever talk to the executives at Fannie and Freddie about these reckless loans? Did he ever discuss with them the stronger oversight I proposed? If Senator Obama is such a champion of financial regulation, why didn't he support these regulations that could have prevented this crisis in the first place? He won't tell you, but you deserve an answer."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/06/sharp_words_from_mccain_for_ob.html

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Democrats caused crisis

At the root of this mess is not the failure of capitalism but political interference in the market. It was Democrats who pushed for and passed the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that forced banks to serve their "whole communities" and required them to offer loans to people who were not credit worthy. In 1995, the Clinton administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development, headed by Andrew Cuomo, implemented new regulations requiring banks to meet numerical quotas in lending and demonstrate the diversity of their borrowers. While housing prices were rising, the bad loans were hidden. But as soon as prices began to fall and adjustable ARMs kicked in, the defaults began. It was Democrats who closed ranks to insulate their pet projects -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- from proper oversight and regulation.

http://www.kentucky.com/589/story/538809.html

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Busted!... Video of Fannie Mae CEO in 2005 Explaining the "FAMILY" Connection with Dems & Obama

Maybe now Barack Obama will show his patriotism by returning the $126,349. he received from Fannie Mae. Yeah, right...........


Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Busted!... Video of Fannie Mae CEO in 2005 Explaining the "FAMILY" Connection with Dems & Obama

In 2005-- Senator John McCain partnered with three other Senate Republicans to reform the government’s involvement in lending, after an attempt by the Bush administration died in Congress two years earlier.
Democrats blocked the reform.

In 2005-- Barack Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus met with Fannie Mae for a "family" event. In 2005 Democrats also blocked reform of Fannie Mae:




This was before Fannie Mae started filling the pockets of Barack Obama with political donations.
The junior Illinois senator collected more money from Fannie Mae than any other Washington politician except Senator Dodd in the last decade.
Obama was able to accomplish this feat in just 3 years.

This video shows Fannie Mae CEO talking to "family" members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 2005.

The Democrats have been taking PAYOFFS from Fannie and Freddie and have looked the other way FOR DECADES!
They've blocked reform several times.

Now this NEW VIDEO of the CEO of Fannie Mae in 2005 shows him explaining the "FAMILY" connection with Democrats and specifically Barack Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus. It looks like Michelle Obama was at the event, too.
This was before Barack Obama started collecting tens of thousands from the failed lender.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/09/busted-ceo-of-fannie-mae-in-2005.html

Shocking Video

How anyone can watch this video and not realize that the Democrats, NOT the Republicans are to blame for the financial mess we are in today is beyond me. JC

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Dem's Fault?

NY TIMES SEPT 2003: BUSH PROPOSED TIGHTENING OVERSIGHT OF FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC - THE DEMOCRATS OF CONGRESS BLOCKED IT

September 18, 2008

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.