Redstate

Posted at 5:25pm on Jun. 20, 2008 Bank of America's Bailout Bill

64 Pages of 'Confidential and Proprietary' Evidence

By Bluey

Tim Carney at the Washington Examiner has another solid piece today on Bank of America’s role in the housing bailout bill. With the Senate set to vote on the legislation next week, conservatives are mounting a last-ditch effort to stop an outrageous abuse of taxpayer money.

The “confidential and proprietary” document Carney uncovered (click here to view) illustrates just how intricately involved Bank of America has been in drafting the legislation with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Bank of America, of course, is in the process of buying Countrywide Financial Corp., which remains at the center of the mortgage meltdown.

A Senate staffer and a House staffer both told me on background that the House version of the bill — or at least the bailout portion — was drafted by Bank of America. I have also reviewed a March 11, 2008, "Discussion Document" currently circulating among Hill staffers that appears to have been drafted by somebody at Bank of America.

The document's title, "FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act of 2008," is now the title of HR 5831, the House version of Dodd-Shelby, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

The paper more or less spells out the mortgage bailout plan contained in the House and Senate versions. The date of the document is one month earlier than the date HR 5831 was introduced. If the document, stamped "confidential and proprietary" is valid, it points to a Bank of America source as the author of the House version of this bill. Calls and e-mails to Dodd, Frank, and Bank of America were not returned.

If this was happening under a Republican Congress just imagine the media scrutiny. We’re barely hearing a peep.

Posted in Barney Frank | Chris Dodd | Congress | Congress | Housing Crisis | Mortgage Bailout — Comments (13)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:09pm on Jun. 9, 2008 Obama's Finance Chair: Another subprime lender problem

By Soren Dayton

The Pritzkers are one of the leading business families of Chicago. They run Hyatt and have a reputation for particularly cut-throat business practices. (sometimes outside of honorable) So it isn't entirely surprising to find Penny Pritzker at the center of Barack Obama's hypocrisy over his relationship to subprime lenders. Earlier today, I wrote about Jim Johnson, who got a sweetheart deal from Countrywide which Obama had attacked. And then there was UBS, which his campaign shopped a story about, and the reporter didn't point out that the CEO of UBS has raised a quarter million for Obama.

And then there is Penny, Obama's Finance Chair. She was the former Chairwoman of a bank that failed, according to regulators via a 2001 Chicago Tribune article, due to "poor oversight by its board." The depositors felt so screwed, that they filed a RICO suit against Penny and other directors. The Pritzker family eventually settled with regulators for $460m.

So Obama is attacking CEOs of subprime lenders. And his Finance Chairman was the Chairman of a subprime lender that went under because of poor oversight. One of his major donors is the CEO of another one. And the person making his VP recommendation got a sweetheart deal from another.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Housing Crisis | Penny Pritzker — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:00am on Jun. 9, 2008 More on Jim Johnson: Obama bundler, lobbyist, and shady mortgage executive

By Soren Dayton

Earlier, I introduced Jim Johnson, the head of Barack Obama's vice presidential search team. He is also a lobbyist, operative for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale (is this the change we need?), representative of a former head of state, bundler for the Obama campaign, and disgraced mortgage executive who mistated Fannie Mae profits to get a bigger bonus. Oh yeah.

Today, the NY Sun tells us that he also got sweetheart mortgages from bankrupt (legally, not merely in other ways) mortgage dealer Country Wide Financial:

James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company's CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

But I am sure that Barack Obama sees nothing wrong with that. After all, he got a subsidy on his own house from now-felon, then-FBI investigation target Tony Rezko.

So next time Barack Obama complains about the Housing crisis, ask him about his Vice Presidential search guy who gets sweetheart deals. Or even about his own sweetheart deals. He hasn't answered enough questions there only, "like eight questions." We agree with the Chicago Sun Times that that is not enough.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Housing Crisis | Jim Johnson | Obamafiles — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:05pm on May 27, 2008 Obama's not on his own in the housing crisis

By Soren Dayton

Today, Barack Obama, gave a speech on the housing crisis. In the speech, he said:

I do not accept an America where Washington’s only message to working people is: “you’re on your own.”

But Barack Obama didn't need Washington when he was buying a house. Because he had a politically connected real estate developer, Tony Rezko, under federal criminal investigation who subsidized his house.

Is that Barack's lesson? That if you aren't lucky enough to know a corrupt real estate developer, you need Washington?

Posted in Archived | Barack Obama | Housing Crisis | Tony Rezko — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:00am on Apr. 3, 2008 Legislative Patience Is A Virtue . . . But Few Are Virtuous

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I forget where it was that I read it, but the standard response to any particular crisis of the moment seems to pattern itself after the following line of thinking:

1. Something must be done.
   
2. This is something.
   
3. Therefore, this must be done.

This is the line of thinking that is leading Congress to devise solutions to the housing crisis. If we legislate in haste, we repent in leisure. But don't try telling Representatives and Senators that. Between re-election challenges and the continuing belief that government possesses some kind of grand and unfathomable capability to solve any and all problems afflicting society, legislating in haste appears to be the order of the day.

Posted in Congress | Economy | Housing Crisis — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »