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click on each candidate to see today's news stories (caricatures by Linda Eddy)

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008

GENERAL NEWS HEADLINES with excerpts

 

Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives
who have brought down Wall Street -
all are connected to Obama's campaign

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae.  Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae  when auditing discovered severe irregularities 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 la te 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.'  Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

Raines left with a 'golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal 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.  The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Tim Howard -  Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard 'was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a 'stable pattern of earnings' at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books.  The Government Investigation determined that, 'Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,'

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve manag ement pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson -   A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO.   A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million.'   Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae. 

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million. 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES:
Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD:
Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON:
Johnson
hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected
to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee
 

IF OBAMA PLANS ON CLEANING UP THE MESS - HIS ADVISORS HAVE THE EXPERTISE - THEY MADE THE MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE.   Would you trust the men who tore Wall Street down to build the New Wall Street ?

 

VP moderator is in the tank for Obama:
releasing 'Age of Obama" book on inauguration day

The moderator of Thursday's vice-presidential debate is writing a book to come out about the time the next president takes the oath of office that aims to "shed new light" on Democratic candidate Barack Obama and other "emerging young African American politicians" who are "forging a bold new path to political power."

Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service program "Washington Week" is promoting "The Breakthrough," in which she argues the "black political structure" of the civil rights movement is giving way to men and women who have benefited from the struggles over racial equality...

 

Obama's lead over McCain narrows

Barack Obama leads John McCain by 50 percent to 46 percent among likely voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, down from a 9-point edge a week earlier.

 

Gingrich: fire Henry Paulson

Asked if Paulson is “the right guy” for the job, Gingrich responded: “No. I mean, I think that he must have been a terrific deal-maker at Goldman Sachs and a great chairman of Goldman Sachs, but I don't think that's the same job as being a secretary of the Treasury. And I think the president would be much better off if Undersecretary [Bob] Kimmet was now replacing Secretary Paulson.”

... “I don't understand how the president can avoid firing the Secretary of the Treasury when you have a former chairman of Goldman Sachs [Paulson] who wants to have unlimited ability to spend money, and you have the current chairman of Goldman Sachs, the only private-sector person in a room,” Gingrich told Van Susteren.

“Two weeks later, the U.S. government put up $85 billion to help AIG, in which Goldman Sachs has a $20 billion exposure…

“When the average American understands this, they are going to be so angry at this Congress if it passes a deal to give Secretary Paulson money…

 

Conservatives stand firm against bailout

The failure of a massive Wall Street bailout bill and a steep fall in the stock market were prices worth paying to stand up for principle, some conservatives said on talk radio shows Tuesday.

Conservatives strongly oppose the rescue plan President Bush proposed last week, arguing that it amounts to government intervention in the free market and would misspend taxpayer money to help big banks.

They also say that Congress would have regretted passing the $700 billion bill so hastily and more time should be spent on a search for a solution that adheres to conservative ideals.

see also:

Hillary: It's dire, economy could stop

US Dollar surges against EURO

DOW up 435 yesterday

FDIC wants limit upped to $250,000

Stock prices surge; credit worries persist

Main street America angry over credit crisis

 

Karl Rove on how Obama and Pelosi
blew the bailout
:

 

 

Obama nausea watch:
Singing the new Gospel of the New Messiah

 

head of NBC Universal Jeff Zucker
among the Hollywood 'comrades' behind the video
... NOT

Roger Simon:
"Watching this video has disturbed me more than almost anything
I have seen in recent years.  It is the kind of exploitation of children
that reminds me of Young Pioneer Camps I saw when visiting
the Soviet Union in the Eighties... "

 

 

 


 

THE CANDIDATES:

 

John McCain & Sarah Palin... today's headlines with excerpts

Sarah Palin: France's nightmare

Ms. Palin may be an American dream but she is a French nightmare, said Mr. Rouvillois, a lawyer and social historian who has just written a book titled “The History of Snobbery.”

“She’s a caricature of a certain America that hasn’t parted with its boorish ‘Wild West’ side,” said the impish Mr. Rouvillois, who has also written a history of good manners. “For the French snob, the only admissible American is from the East Coast, knows Henry James, is comfortable in French, a sort of European on the other side of the Atlantic.”

A little, yes, like Senator John Kerry...

Palin interview with Katie Couric: Feminism, homosexuality, abortion, the environment  transcript

Palin: 'I'm the new energy'

CBS anchor Katy Couric asked Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, if the comment was not “risky” considering her running mate, Senator John McCain is 72 years old:

"Oh no, it’s nothing negative at all. He’s got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we’ve been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he’s got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I’m the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he’s got the experience based on many many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years."

See also:

Palin effect on CBS ratings only modest
 

 

 

Barack Obama & Joe Biden... today's headlines with excerpts'

Unlike Hillary, Biden gets a pass for saying he was 'shot at' in Iraq

When Hillary Clinton told a tall tale about "landing under sniper fire" in Bosnia, she was accused of "inflating her war experience" by rival Democrat Barack Obama's campaign. 

But the campaign has been silent about Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, telling his own questionable story about being "shot at" in Iraq...

Though an experienced debater, Biden often tripped up by spontaneity

One danger for Mr. Biden on Thursday is that his habit of speaking authoritatively, of saying he possesses the truth, will come across as overbearing or condescending...

... His innate exuberance and gusto in speaking without stopping for air can make him sound like he is clubbing his points — and his opponent.

... He has a tendency to blurt out whatever is on his mind. Even as the vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Biden has veered off script, creating a series of flaps in recent days, from opposing the bailout of the American International Group, which Mr. Obama supported, to labeling as “terrible” an Obama campaign commercial against Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee.

Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel to sing for Obama fundraiser

The Piano Man and the Boss are putting on a show for Obama.

Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen will do a benefit concert for Senator Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee next month at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Oct. 16.

Mr. Obama will be appearing on stage as well for the event, which is set for the day after his debate with Senator John McCain at Hofstra University on Long Island.

... Tickets for the fund-raiser, which is slated to be Mr. Obama’s last in the New York area, are not cheap. Balcony seats are going for $500; a “premiere seat” costs $2,500; and a “lounge ticket” is $10,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 previous IPW reports

 

 

 


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